Woman with Black Hood in Windblown Leaves, from the series "Twelve Scenes of Popular Customs (Fuzoku juni tsui)"
c. 1783
Medium
Color woodblock print; hashira-e
Dimensions
66.8 × 11.5 cm (26 5/16 × 4 9/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
44368
Art Historical Context
Torii Kiyonaga (1752–1815), a master of the Ukiyo-e tradition from the esteemed Torii school, created *Woman with Black Hood inblown Leaves* around 1783 as part of his series *Twelve Scenes of Customs (Fuzoku tsui)*. This woodblock print captures the elegance of everyday life in Edo-period Japan (modern Tokyo), focusing on bijin-ga, or depictions of beautiful women, immersed in seasonal moments. Kiyonaga's style features elongated, graceful figures with soft contours and subtle color gradients, evoking a sense of poetic transience amid urban pleasures. Rendered in the rare hashira-e format—a ...
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...