Momiji no ga, from the series "A Fashionable Parody of the Tale of Genji (Furyu yatsushi Genji)"
c. 1789/94
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban triptych
Dimensions
38.9 × 75.8 cm (15 3/8 × 29 7/8 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
21706
Art Historical Context
This elegant color woodblock print by Chôbunsai Eishi forms the central panel of an oban triptych titled *Momiji no ga*, part of his series *A Fashionable Parody of the Tale of Genji* (*Fūryū yatsushi Genji*), created around 1789–1794. As a leading ukiyo-e artist of the late Edo period, Eishi specialized in refined depictions of beautiful women and courtly themes, here reimagining scenes from the 11th-century classic *The Tale of Genji* in contemporary, fashionable dress. The work transforms ancient literary episodes into accessible, stylish images that resonated with urban audiences of the ti...
About the Artist
Chôbunsai Eishi · 1756–1829
Chôbunsai Eishi, born Hosoda Tokitomi in 1756 to a prosperous samurai family of the Fujiwara clan in Edo, inherited a substantial stipend of 500 koku of rice annually. His grandfather had served as the shogunate's Treasury Minister, and upon his father Hosoda Tokiyuki's death in 1772, Eishi became family head while holding a position in Shogun Tokugawa Ieharu's palace from 1781. Unusually for a uk...