Three Girls on a Riverbank
early 19th century
Medium
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Dimensions
Image: 15 3/4 × 23 1/4 in. (40 × 59.1 cm) Overall with mounting: 51 1/8 × 28 1/4 in. (129.9 × 71.8 cm) Overall with knobs: 51 1/8 × 30 3/8 in. (129.9 × 77.2 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Howard Mansfield Collection, Purchase, Rogers Fund, 1936
Accession Number
36.100.46
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
Nestled along a serene riverbank, *Three Girls on a Riverbank by Torii Kiyonaga captures a moment of quiet elegance in early 19th-century Japan. Created during the Edo period (1615–8), this hanging scroll in ink and color on silk about 15¾ × 23¼ inches, inviting viewers into a world of gentle leisure. The three young women, poised gracefully amid nature, embody the refined beauty often celebrated in Japanese art of the time. Torii Kiyonaga, a master of the ukiyo-e tradition, specialized in depicting women with fluid lines and vibrant hues that bring silk to life. Hanging scrolls like this were treasured in private homes, unrolled for special occasions to evoke the floating world—ephemeral pleasures of urban life amid rural tranquility. The riverside setting highlights harmony between figures and landscape, a hallmark of Edo aesthetics. Part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Asian Art collection, gifted through The Howard Mansfield Collection in 1936, this work offers a window into Japan's cultural flourishing, where everyday scenes of women by water symbolized poise and seasonal joy. A delightful gem for contemplation!
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...