歌川國芳画 「源氏雲浮世画合 空蝉 / 曾我五郎時致」|“‘A Molted Cicada Shell’ (Utsusemi): Soga Gorō Tokimune,” from the series Scenes amid Genji Clouds Matched with Ukiyo-e Pictures (Genji-gumo ukiyo e-awase)
ca. 1845–61
Medium
Woodblock ōban print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
Image: 14 × 9 3/16 in. (35.6 × 23.3 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Ronin Gallery, 2018
Accession Number
2018.893.2
Art Historical Context
This vibrant woodblock print by Utagawa Kuniy, a master of the ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") tradition, dates to around 1845–61 during Japan's Edo period. Titled *“‘A Molted Cicada Shell’ (Uusemi): Soga Gorō Tokimune”*, it belongs to the series *Scenes amid Genji Clouds Mat with Ukiyo-e Pictures*. Kuniyoshi ingeniously pairs a scene from the classic 11th-century novel * Tale of Genji*where "Utsusemi" evokes a lady's fleeting romance, symbolized by a discarded cicada shell—with the dramatic figure of Soga Gorō Tokimune, a vengeful warrior from a beloved Japanese legend about frater...
About the Artist
Utagawa Kuniyoshi · 1797–1861
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861) was born in Edo to the silk-dyer Yanagiya Kichiyemon, originally bearing the childhood name Yoshisaburō. From a young age, he assisted in his family's pattern design work, which sharpened his innate mastery of color and textile motifs that would permeate his later prints. At around twelve years old, his prodigious drawing skills drew the attention of the renowned Utag...