Gaikokujin yoru benkyo no zu|Foreigners Studying at Night
Medium
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
Image: 13 1/2 x 9 in. (34.3 x 22.9 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
2007.49.154
Tags
Art Historical Context
This woodblock print by Utagawa Yoshikazu, created in 1861, offers a vivid glimpse into Japan’s late Edo period, just as the country was emerging from centuries of isolation. Titled *Foreigners Studying at Night*, the image portrays Western men and women gathered indoors, absorbed in reading and scholarly pursuits. Produced as a colorful *nishiki-e* print on paper, it belongs to the Yokohama-e genre, which documented the arrival of foreigners in the port city after 1854. Yoshikazu, working in the lively Utagawa school tradition, uses delicate lines and layered pigments to convey both the inti...
About the Artist
Utagawa Yoshikazu
Utagawa Yoshikazu (active circa 1850–1870) was a Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock print artist who came of age during one of the most dynamic periods in Japanese history — the twilight of the Edo period and the dawning of the Meiji era. Born and active in Edo (present-day Tokyo), he trained under the celebrated master Utagawa Kuniyoshi, one of the towering figures of the Utagawa school renowned for his ...