天明美人図|Two Women and a Puppy
1787–88
Medium
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Dimensions
Image: 39 3/4 × 13 15/16 in. (101 × 35.4 cm) Overall with mounting: 74 3/16 × 19 5/16 in. (188.5 × 49 cm) Overall with knobs: 74 3/16 × 21 1/4 in. (188.5 × 54 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015
Accession Number
2015.300.205
Tags
Art Historical Context
Nagasawa Rosetsu’s *Two Women and a Puppy* (1787–88) captures a lighthearted moment from Japan’s Edo period, when urban culture flourished and artists increasingly turned to scenes of everyday life. A pupil of the naturalistic master Maruyama Ōkyo, Rosetsu brought a distinctive wit and spontaneity to the Maruyama-Shijō school. Here, two elegantly dressed women pause to play with a lively puppy, their flowing robes and gentle expressions rendered with fluid ink lines and delicate mineral colors on silk. The hanging-scroll format was ideally suited to such intimate subjects, allowing the compos...