Snowy Morning in the Pleasure Quarters (Seiro yuki no ashita)
c. 1789
Medium
Color woodblock print; left sheet of oban diptych
Dimensions
36.8 × 26.6 cm (14 1/2 × 10 1/2 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
22739
Art Historical Context
Torii Kiyonaga's *Snowy Morning in the Quarters (Seiro yuki no ashita, created around 1789, offers a captivating glimpse into Edo-period Japan's vibrant "floating world" urban leisure. As a master of ukiyo-e woodblock prints, Kiyonaga specialized in bijin-ga—elegant depictions of beautiful women—and scenes from the Yoshiwara pleasure district, where courtesans, patrons, and performers mingled amid snow-dusted streets. This left sheet of an oban diptych (a two-panel format measuring about 36.8 × 26.6 cm) invites viewers to imagine the full panoramic view when paired with its counterpart. The p...
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...