仏蘭西国|France (furansukoku)
2nd month, 1865
Medium
Triptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
Image (a): 14 3/8 x 9 5/8 in. (36.5 x 24.4 cm) Image (b): 14 1/2 x 9 1/2 in. (36.8 x 24.1 cm) Image (c): 14 3/8 x 9 7/8 in. (36.5 x 25.1 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of William S. Lieberman, 2005
Accession Number
2007.49.219a–c
Tags
Art Historical Context
This striking triptych by Utagawa Yoshitora captures a lively scene of French figures amid a mountainous landscape with carriages, trees, and elegantly dressed men and women. Created in the second month of 1865, during Japan’s late Edo period, the work belongs to the Yokohama-e genre—woodblock prints that portrayed Westerners living in the newly opened treaty port of Yokohama. Yoshitora, a prolific member of the Utagawa school, specialized in such images that satisfied Japanese curiosity about foreign customs following Commodore Perry’s arrival in 1853. Printed in vibrant ink and color on pap...
About the Artist
Utagawa Yoshitora · 1845–1880
Utagawa Yoshitora (歌川 芳虎), also known by his art names Ichimōsai, Mōsai, and Kinchōrō, was a prolific ukiyo-e artist born in Edo (modern Tokyo), where he trained under the renowned Utagawa Kuniyoshi, recognized as his oldest pupil. Little is known of his early life, which remains sparsely documented, but his earliest works include illustrations for the book *Story of Karasu Kanzaemon’s Loyalty* in...