The stars of this show of one of Japan’s greatest ‘Floating World’ artists, Kitagawa Utamaro, are two monumental scroll paintings – Fukagawa in the Snow and Cherry Blossoms at Yoshiwara. These join some 50 objects from the Japanese collection of the Atheneum including paintings, prints, textiles, porcelain and armaments taken from the Atheneum’s 1,000 strong collection of Japanese art. Utamaro, and Utagawa Hokusai (The Wave) are the most famed of the ukiyo-e artists who documented the everyday life of 18th-19th century Japan’s pleasure districts of the Edo (Tokyo) period of 1615-1868. They recorded in transcendent style their splendid and extravagant brothels and theatres and their inhabitants, including the gorgeously attired courtesans who fascinated Utamaro.
Until March 26th at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut, USA
Kitagawa Utamaro, Fukagawa in the Snow, 1802-1806, Okada Museum of Art, Japan
