Japanese Print "Summer View" by Utagawa Toyokuni I

Artist:Utagawa Toyokuni I

Title:Summer View

Date:c. 1790

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Source:Honolulu Museum of Art
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Description:

Utagawa Toyokuni I, a well-known designer of Kabuki actor prints, first specialized in producing pictures of beautiful women (bijinga). As the title indicates, this print depicts the southern suburbs of Edo (modern Tokyo) specifically Shinagawa, one of the fifty-three stations of the Tökaidö Road. Shinagawa was an unofficial entertainment district, more casual and inexpensive than Yoshiwara, Edo’s most famous licensed pleasure quarter. The facial types and slender, elongated bodies of Toyokuni’s female figures are reminiscent of the older ukiyo-e designer Torii Kiyonaga’s (1752 -1815) depictions of women, which dominated the ukiyo-e market at the time. Toyokuni portrays ladies wearing kimono with a variety of indigo tie-dyed patterns. Warm colors such as red, pink and orange are noticeably absent. This type of print with a subdued color scheme is called beni-girai, or “red-avoiding.” The “red-avoiding” technique, which emphasized monochromatic designs in black ink, was considered to produce a more elegant print. “Midsummer Night’s Pleasure” 08/05/2010-10/10/2010) ***********************

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