Proof Line-Block Print for Fan
19th century
Medium
Proof line-block print; ink on paper
Dimensions
Image: 11 3/4 x 9 1/2 in. (29.8 x 24.1 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
2007.49.281
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite proof line-block print for a fan, created bytagawa (Gountei) Sadahide in 19th-century Japan during the Edo period (5–1868), the vibrant spirit of ukiyo-e, or "pictures of the floating." Sadahide, a master of the Utagawa alongside luminaries like Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi, specialized in dynamic scenes of everyday life, often infused with humor and social observation. Here, the intricate black ink outlines depict men and women aboard boats, evoking leisurely outings on rivers or bays—a popular motif reflecting Japan's urban pleasures amid the era's isolationist policies. As a proo...
About the Artist
Utagawa (Gountei) Sadahide · 1807–1873
Utagawa Sadahide was born Hashimoto Kenjirō in 1807 in Fusa Province, in the area of modern Chiba Prefecture, Japan. In the 1820s he entered the studio of the enormously prolific and influential master Utagawa Kunisada, becoming one of Kunisada's most prominent pupils and adopting the studio name Sadahide along with the Utagawa school's celebrated lineage. By 1828 his name appeared on a monument l...