Women and Children on the Causeway at Shinobazu Pond
c. 1788
Medium
Color woodblock print; right sheet of oban triptych
Dimensions
38 × 24.9 cm (15 × 9 13/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
22726
Art Historical Context
Torii Kiyonaga's *Women and Children on the Causeway at Shinobazu* (c. 1788) captures a serene moment of everyday leisure in Edo-period Japan. This vibrant color woodblock print depicts elegant women and playful children strolling along the causeway of Shinobazu Pond in U, a beloved Tokyo spot known for its lotus blooms and boating pleasures. As the right sheet of an ob triptych—a large-format, three-panel composition—it invites viewers to imagine the full panoramic scene unfolding across the set. Kiyonaga, a leading ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") master from the Torii school, exc...
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...