Two Geisha Preceded by a Maid Carrying a Lantern
ca. 1778
Medium
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
10 1/4 x 7 3/8 in. (26 x 18.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
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
JP2596
Tags
Art Historical Context
Torii Kiyonaga's *Two Geisha Preceded a Maid Carrying a Lantern (ca. 1778) captures the vibrant nightlife of Edo-period Japan (1615–1868), a time when woodblock prints like this one brought art to the masses. As a leading figure in the ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world"), Kiyonaga specialized in elegant depictions of beautiful women (bijin-ga), blending the Torii school's theatrical flair with his own refined sense of grace and movement. This small-scale print (10¼ × 7⅜ in.), inked and colored on paper, exemplifies the era's nishiki-e technique—multi-block printing that achieved rich, b...
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...