Viewing Plum Blossoms at Night
dated 1780
Medium
Ink and color on silk
Dimensions
29 7/8 x 11 11/16 in. (75.9 x 29.7 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Charles Stewart Smith Collection, Gift of Mrs. Charles Stewart Smith, Charles Stewart Smith Jr., and Howard Caswell Smith, in memory of Charles Stewart Smith, 1914
Accession Number
14.76.49
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Viewing Plum Blossoms at Night** (1780) by Kubo Shunman captures the poetic elegance of Edo-period Japan, a time of cultural flourishing under the Tokugawa shogunate (1615–1868). Shunman, a versatile ukiyo-e artist known for his refined depictions of the "floating world" of urban pleasures, renders women savoring the delicate beauty of plum blossoms under moonlight. Plum blossoms, Japan's harbingers of spring, symbolize resilience and renewal, often celebrated in nighttime gatherings by the literati and pleasure quarters alike. Painted in ink and color on silk—a luxurious medium prized for ...
About the Artist
Kubo Shunman · 1757–1820
Japanese, 1757–1820