Monkeys
March 1888
Medium
Album leaf; ink and color on silk
Dimensions
14 1/4 x 10 7/8 in. (36.2 x 27.6 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Culture & Period
Japan · Meiji period (1868–1912)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Charles Stewart Smith Collection, Gift of Mrs. Charles Stewart Smith, Charles Stewart Smith Jr., and Howard Caswell Smith, in memory of Charles Stewart Smith, 1914
Accession Number
14.76.61.9
Tags
Art Historical Context
Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831–1889), a renowned Japanese artist of the late Edo and Meiji periods, created *Monkeys* in March1888 as an intimate album leaf painted in ink and color on silk. Measuring just 14¼ × 10⅞ inches, this delicate work exemplifies Kyōsai's mastery *kyōga*—humorous, satirical "mad poetry" pictures—that blended ukiyo-e traditions with exuberant, caricatured style. During theiji era (1868–1912), Japan was rapidly modernizing under Western influences, yet Kyōsai clung to classical Japanese techniques while infusing them with playful irreverence, often using monkeys as clever stand-i...
About the Artist
Kawanabe Kyōsai 河鍋暁斎 (Japanese) · 1831 –1889
Japanese, 1831–1889