ca. 1830
Medium
Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
8 1/4 x 6 3/4 in. (21 x 17.1 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1921
Accession Number
JP1232
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate woodblock print, titled *Print*, was created by Yashima Gutei around 1830 during Japan's Edo period (16151868). Gakute, a master of the Osaka school of ukiyo-e, an intimate scene of women washing amid a misty waterfall, blending everyday life with the serene beauty of nature. The—Women, Waterfalls, Washinghighlight this harmonious depiction of labor and landscape, evoking the quiet poetry of rural Japan. As a *surimono*, or privately commissioned print, it exemplifies luxurious woodblock techniques reserved for elite patrons, often for New Year's greetings or poetry albums. Ink ...
About the Artist
Yashima Gakutei · 1786–1868
Yashima Gakutei (c. 1786–1868), born in Osaka as the illegitimate son of a Tokugawa shogunate samurai named Hirata, adopted the name from his mother's subsequent marriage into the Yashima clan. Little is documented about his early years beyond these familial ties, but he pursued artistic training under the esteemed ukiyo-e masters Totoya Hokkei and Katsushika Hokusai, absorbing their precision in ...