Asakusa Rice Fields and Torinomachi Festival (Asakusa tanbo Torinomachi mode), from the series "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)"
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Dimensions
36 × 24.1 cm (14 1/4 × 9 1/2 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
26534
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This peaceful scene of a cat perched on a windowsill takes place on the second story of a brothel. Hairpins, a wad of tissue paper, and a towel hint at the room’s owner. The cat itself may be a stand-in for the woman, as sex workers were often associated with the grace and aloofness of felines. In the distance, small figures move in a procession to a nearby temple. On festival days, the pleasure quarters were open to all, and the courtesans took extra customers.
About the Artist
Utagawa Hiroshige · 1826–1869
Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), born Andō Tokutarō, was the last great master of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock printmaking and one of the most influential landscape artists in history. Born in Edo (modern Tokyo) into a low-ranking samurai family serving as fire wardens, Hiroshige transformed landscape printmaking into a poetic meditation on nature, weather, and everyday life. His revolutionary approac...