Description
A nighttime party in the Yoshiwara appears through the veranda of a house in Kitagawa Utamaro’s scene. The tiled roof, garden tree and river beyond extend the setting outside the gathering itself. The broad composition brings an inhabited interior into contact with the surrounding night, giving recreation a place within a larger landscape.
Made in 1789, the woodblock print uses ink and color on paper. The work’s interest lies in the relationship between the people gathered and the conditions surrounding their gathering. Moonlight introduces another register beyond the party itself, joining human company to the wider night. Utamaro preserves a moment of recreation without reducing its participants to a general crowd, giving the scene the character of an occasion lived together.
Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Kitagawa Utamaro collection.
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