Woman Dancer in Daimyo's Palace
Medium
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
Horizontal chūban; Image: 7 1/4 × 12 3/8 in. (18.4 × 31.4 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
Accession Number
JP1645
Tags
Art Historical Context
Suzuki Harunobu's *Woman Dancer in Daimyo's Palace is a captivating woodblock print from Japan's Edo period (16151868), showcasing the artist's mastery of ukiyo, the "pictures of the floating world" that celebrated fleeting pleasures like beauty, theater, and entertainment. Harunobu (1725–1770), a pioneer of full-color nishiki-e prints, revolutionized the medium in the 1760s by introducing multi-block color printing, allowing vibrant inks to layer delicate hues on paper. This horizontal chūban format (about 7¼ × 12⅜ in.) was ideal for intimate, collectible scenes, making art accessible beyond ...
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...