Evening Snow at Banto
ca. 1779
Medium
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
9 3/5 x 7 1/5 in. (24.4 x 18.3 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1914
Accession Number
JP130
Tags
Art Historical Context
Torii Kiyonaga's *Evening Snow at Banto (ca. 1779) captures a serene winter moment in Edo-period Japan, a time when ukiyo-e woodblock prints flourished as affordable art for the urban masses. This intimate print depicts men and women amid snow-dusted trees, evoking the quiet beauty of a snowy evening at Banto, likely a scenic locale. Kiyonaga, a leading figure in the Torii school, mastered bijin-ga (images of beautiful women) and yakusha-e (actor portraits), blending graceful figures with naturalistic landscapes in his later works. Printed with ink and color on paper, the piece exemplifies th...
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...