Young Couple in Front of a Screen
c. 1748
Medium
Color woodblock print; hosoban, benizuri-e
Dimensions
28.9 × 14.3 cm (11 3/8 × 5 5/8 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
117450
Art Historical Context
**Young Couple in Front of a** by Ishikawa Toyonobu (1711–1785), around 1748, captures an intimate moment from Japan's vibrant Edo-period "floating world" (ukiyo-e). Toyonobu, a leading printmaker influenced by the Torii school, depicts a stylish young couple framed by a decorative screen, evoking the of urban life, romance, and fashion in 18th-century Tokyo. scenes celebrated everyday beauty and fleeting joys, appealing to a growing merchant class eager for affordable art. This hosoban-format woodblock print—narrow at 28.9 × 14.3 cm—exemplifies the innovative *benizuri-e* technique, an early...
About the Artist
Ishikawa Toyonobu · 1711–1785
Japanese, 1711–1785