歌川豊春筆 桜下遊女と禿|Courtesan and her Attendant under a Cherry Tree
early 19th century
Medium
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Dimensions
Image: 35 5/16 in. × 14 in. (89.7 × 35.5 cm) Overall with mounting: 67 1/2 × 18 3/8 in. (171.5 × 46.7 cm) Overall with knobs: 67 1/2 × 20 1/2 in. (171.5 × 52.1 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015
Accession Number
2015.300.146
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite hanging scroll, *Courtesan and herendant under a Cherry Tree painted by Utagawa Toyoharu in the early 19 century, captures the fleeting beauty of Edo-period Japan (1615–1868). Toyoharu, a pioneering in the ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world"), founded the influential Uawa school, blending Japanese aesthetics with subtle Western perspective influences. Rendered in vibrant ink and color on silk luxurious medium prized for its luminous sheen and suitability for vertical display—this work exemplifies the refined elegance of hanging scrolls, often unrolled for intimate viewing ...
About the Artist
Utagawa Toyoharu · 1735–1814
Utagawa Toyoharu (1735–1814) holds a foundational place in the history of Japanese printmaking as the founder of the prolific and long-lived Utagawa school, which would go on to produce some of the most celebrated names in ukiyo-e, including Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi. Born in what is now Hyogo Prefecture, Toyoharu moved to Edo, where he studied under Toriyama Sekien and later explored the Kano schoo...