Twilight, Looking at Wild Geese Flying Down Toward Yoshida Bridge
January 1861
Medium
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
14 x 9 1/2 in. (35.6 x 24.1 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Lincoln Kirstein, 1959
Accession Number
JP3311
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the twilight glow of late Edo-period Japan, Utagawa Yosha captures a poetic moment in *Twilight, Looking at Wild Geese Down Toward Yoshida Bridge* (January 1861). This woodblock print, rendered in vibrant ink and color on paper, exemplifies ukiyo-e, the "pictures of the floating world" celebrated ephemeral beauty. Yoshitora, a pupil of the renowned Utagawa Kuniyoshi, specialized in landscapes and genre scenes, blending delicate natural elements with human activity—here, men, women, and horses gathered near the historic Yoshida Bridge, likely in Tokyo, as wild geese descend in seasonal migra...
About the Artist
Utagawa Yoshitora · 1845–1880
Utagawa Yoshitora (歌川 芳虎), also known by his art names Ichimōsai, Mōsai, and Kinchōrō, was a prolific ukiyo-e artist born in Edo (modern Tokyo), where he trained under the renowned Utagawa Kuniyoshi, recognized as his oldest pupil. Little is known of his early life, which remains sparsely documented, but his earliest works include illustrations for the book *Story of Karasu Kanzaemon’s Loyalty* in...