Osen of the Kagiya Teahouse
ca. 1769
Medium
Woodblock print; pillar print (hashira-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
H. 25 7/8 in. (65.7 cm); W. 4 7/8 in. (12.4 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1922
Accession Number
JP1276
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
Suzuki Harunobu's *Osen of the Kagiyaahouse* (ca. 1769) is a captivating woodblock pillar print (*hashira-e*), a tall, narrow format designed to hang gracefully on the wooden pillars of Edo-period homes. Measuring nearly 26 inches high but just under 5 inches wide, ink and color on paper print exemplifies the ukiyo tradition—"pictures of the floating world"—celebrating fleeting pleasures like beauty and urban life. Harunobu, a pioneering master of full-color (*nishiki-e*) prints revolutionized Japanese printmaking in the 1760s by introducing vibrant multi-color techniques, bringing unprecedent...
About the Artist
Suzuki Harunobu · 1725–1770
Suzuki Harunobu (c. 1725-1770) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist who revolutionized woodblock printing by developing nishiki-e—full-color prints using multiple woodblocks—in 1765. Before Harunobu, Japanese prints were limited to two or three colors; his innovation unleashed the entire artist's palette, transforming ukiyo-e into the vibrant art form that would later captivate Western artists from Manet...