Cooling Off in the Evening at Shijogawara
c. 1784
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban triptych
Dimensions
39.1 × 78.1 cm (overall), 39.1 × 26.1 cm (right sheet), 39.1 × 26.2 cm (center sheet), 39.1 × 25.8 cm (left sheet)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
93047
Art Historical Context
Torii Kiyonaga's *Cooling Off in Evening at Shijogawara* (c. 4) captures a serene summer moment in Edo-period Japan, where elegant women gather by the riverbank to escape the heat. As a leading figure in the ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world"), Kiyonaga specialized in bijin-ga—depictions of beautiful women—blending graceful figures with everyday leisure scenes. This oban triptych, a large-format color woodblock print composed of three sheets, immerses viewers in the vibrant social life of 18th-century Kyoto's Shijogawara area, a popular spot for evening respite amid the humid season. T...
About the Artist
Torii Kiyonaga · 1752–1815
Torii Kiyonaga, born Sekiguchi Shinsuke in 1752 in Uraga, Sagami Province, was the son of an Edo bookseller who owned tenements near a bustling fish market. At age 14 in 1765, he began his apprenticeship under Torii Kiyomitsu, the third-generation head of the prestigious Torii school of ukiyo-e, renowned for kabuki theater illustrations and signage. Adopted into the Torii family, Kiyonaga succeede...