Yokohama Igirisu Shokan hanei no zu|Picture of a Prosperous English Trading Firm in Yokohama
January 1871
Medium
Triptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
14 1/4 x 29 3/4 in. (36.2 x 75.6 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Meiji period (1868–1912)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Lincoln Kirstein, 1959
Accession Number
JP3249
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Yokohama Igirisuokan hanei no zuPicture of a Prosperous Trading Firm in Yokohama)***Utagawa Yoshiiku, January1871* This vibrant triptych woodblock print by Utagawa Yoshiiku the bustling energy of Yokohama's foreign trading quarter in early Meiji Japan. Yoshiiku, a of the ukiyo-e tradition from the renowned Utagawa school, a thriving English trading firm teeming with diverse figures—Japanese locals, Western merchants, and workers—amid stacks of goods and architectural marvels. The expansive scene, measuring 14 1/4 x 29 3/4 inches, unfolds across three panels, a technique that allowed ukiyo...
About the Artist
Utagawa Yoshiiku · 1833–1904
Utagawa Yoshiiku (1833–1904) was a prolific Japanese woodblock print artist and journalist who lived through one of the most turbulent and transformative periods in his country's history, the transition from the Edo period through the Meiji Restoration. A student of the celebrated Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Yoshiiku inherited his master's taste for bold compositional drama and dynamic figuration, applying...