The Kagura Dance
c. 1768/69
Medium
Color woodblock print; hashira-e
Dimensions
71.8 × 13.4 cm (28 1/4 × 5 1/4 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
90469
Art Historical Context
Suzuki Harunobu's *The Kagura Dance* (c. 1768/69) captures a moment of sacred Shinto performance during Japan's Edo period, a time when ukiyo-e woodblock prints flourished as affordable art for the urban populace. Harunobu, a pioneering master of this "pictures of the floating world", revolutionized printmaking around 1765 by introducing-color nishiki-e, bringing vibrant life to scenes of theater, beauty, and ritual. This print likely depicts kagura dancers in traditional attire, embodying spiritual harmony through graceful movements that invoke kami (Shinto deities). Rendered as a hashira-e—...
About the Artist
Suzuki Harunobu · 1725–1770
Suzuki Harunobu (c. 1725-1770) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist who revolutionized woodblock printing by developing nishiki-e—full-color prints using multiple woodblocks—in 1765. Before Harunobu, Japanese prints were limited to two or three colors; his innovation unleashed the entire artist's palette, transforming ukiyo-e into the vibrant art form that would later captivate Western artists from Manet...