Shiokumi|The Dance of the Beach Maidens from the series Brocade of the East
ca. 1770
Medium
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
Image: 15 3/16 x 9 13/16 in. (38.6 x 24.9 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1922
Accession Number
JP1373
Tags
Art Historical Context
Torii Kiyonaga's *Shiokumi (The Dance of the Beach Maidens)* from the series *Brocade of the East*, created around 1770, captures the graceful energy of Edo-period Japan through a vibrant woodblock print. Ink and color on paper, about 15 x 10 inches, this ukiyo-e masterpiece exemplifies "floating world" genre celebrating theater, beauty, everyday poetry. As a leading figure in the Torii school, Kiyonaga elevated printmaking with his elegant depictions of kabuki actors and courtesans, blending dynamic poses with refined proportions. The scene likely portrays performers enacting the famous *shi...
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...