In a Pleasure House
late 18th century
Medium
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
H. 27 7/16 in. (69.7 cm); W. 4 5/8 in. (11.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
Accession Number
JP1729
Tags
Art Historical Context
Torii Kiyonaga's *In a Pleasure House*late 18th century captures the vibrant allure of Edo-period Japan's "floating world" (ukiyo-e), the bustling entertainment districts like Yoshiwara. As a leading figure in the Torii school of woodblock prints, Kiyonaga excelled in bijin-ga—depictions of elegant women—blending graceful figures with intimate scenes of courtship and leisure. This narrow, vertical hashira-e print (meant to adorn household pillars) shows men and women in a pleasure house, evoking the era's fascination with transient pleasures amid strict social hierarchies. Crafted using the i...
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...