Young woman stepping out of a boat
n.d.
Medium
Color woodblock print; vertical oban diptych
Dimensions
73 × 25.1 cm (28 3/4 × 9 7/8 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
77425
Art Historical Context
Utagawa Toyohiro *Young Woman Stepping Out of a Boat* (n.d.) is a captivating color woodblock print from Japan's Edo period, exemplifying the ukiyo-e tradition of "pictures of the floating." As a master of the Uawa school, Toyohiro (1773–1825) specialized in elegant depictions of beautiful women (bijin-ga) and landscapes, influencing later artists like Hiroshige. This vertical oban diptych—two large panels measuring 73 × 25.1 cm, designed to be joined—showcases a graceful figure alighting from a boat, her kimono flowing with poised elegance against a riverside scene. The woodblock technique, ...
About the Artist
Utagawa Toyohiro · 1763–1828
Utagawa Toyohiro (1763–1828) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist and painter who founded a major branch of the Utagawa school and is best remembered as the teacher of Utagawa Hiroshige, one of the greatest landscape print designers in Japanese art history. Born in Edo (present-day Tokyo), he studied under Utagawa Toyoharu, the founder of the Utagawa school, who was noted for introducing Western perspect...