Girls Gathering Shells on the Sea-shore
Original title: Girls Gathering Shells on the Sea-shore
kurzbeschreibung
Women and children gathering shells along the shore are the focus of this colour woodblock print by Kitagawa Utamaro, made around 1790. Executed in ink and colour on paper, the sheet measures 36.8 by 22.9 cm.
Description
A group of women and children moves along the beach at the front of the picture, their robes glowing mainly in red and orange. Behind them open trees, a lake and a sky veiled in clouds; scattered further figures and boats suggest a wide surroundings. The even, soft light lends the view something quiet, while Japanese characters stand at the upper right.
Context
As an outstanding exponent of ukiyo-e in late eighteenth-century Japan, Utamaro devoted himself chiefly to women in their daily lives. This sheet belongs to a series of prints on rural life and nature. Such motifs were popular with the urban audience of the Edo period, offering as they did an idealised picture of country life.
Impact
Balanced arrangement and restrained earth tones with a few bright accents create a calm mood. Standing before the print, one is drawn into an idyllic beach scene in which the everyday life of the figures turns poetic.
Technique
For this woodblock print, called nishiki-e, several woodblocks were used, one for each area of colour. Characteristic are the sharply drawn contours and the clearly separated colour areas, which allow a very precise and detailed reproduction.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)