Suma, from the series "A Fashionable Parody of the Tale of Genji (Furyu yatsushi Genji)"
c. 1789/94
Medium
Color woodblock print; right sheet of oban triptych (left sheet: 1925.3103)
Dimensions
38.7 × 25.4 cm (15 1/4 × 10 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
86951
Art Historical Context
Step into the elegant world of Edo-period Japan with *Suma*, the right sheet of an oban triptych Chôbunsai Eishi's series *A Fashionable Parody the Tale of Genji (Furyu yatsushi Genji)*, created around 1789–94. Eishi, a master of ukiyo-e woodblock prints renowned for his graceful depictions of bijin-ga (beautiful women), reimagines scenes from Murasaki Shikibu's 11th-century classic novel *The Tale of Genji*. This chapter-inspired panel playfully updates the exiled prince Genji's poignant stay at Suma Bay, blending timeless romance with contemporary fashion and courtesan culture for urban audi...
About the Artist
Chôbunsai Eishi · 1756–1829
Chôbunsai Eishi, born Hosoda Tokitomi in 1756 to a prosperous samurai family of the Fujiwara clan in Edo, inherited a substantial stipend of 500 koku of rice annually. His grandfather had served as the shogunate's Treasury Minister, and upon his father Hosoda Tokiyuki's death in 1772, Eishi became family head while holding a position in Shogun Tokugawa Ieharu's palace from 1781. Unusually for a uk...