"Ro": Seaweed, from the series "Tales of Ise in Fashionable Brocade Pictures (Furyu nishiki-e Ise monogatari)"
c. 1772/73
Medium
Color woodblock print; koban
Dimensions
22.9 × 15.9 cm (9 × 6 1/4 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
32062
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 18th-century Japan with Katsukawa Shunsho's *“Ro”: Seaweed*, captivating color woodblock print from his *Tales of Ise in Fashionable Brocade (Furyu nishiki-e Ise monari)*, created around 1772–73. This intimate *koban*-format work (22.9 × 15.9 cm) draws from the classic 10th-century *Tales of Ise*, a anthology of courtly romance and fleeting beauty. Shunsho, a ukiyo-e master of the Katsukawa school, reimagines these timeless stories in a stylish, contemporary mode—*furyu*—blending elegance with the floating-world escapism popular in Edo-period urban culture. The ...