← Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Tang Furen, from the series Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety

Original title: Tang Furen, from the series Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety

Artist

Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Date

ca. 1840

Medium

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Dimensions

Horizontal ōban; Image: 8 7/8 in. × 14 in. (22.5 × 35.6 cm)

Credit line

Gift of Lincoln Kirstein, 1959

kurzbeschreibung

The tale of Tang Furen, a figure from the Chinese tradition of filial piety, comes to life here in a colour woodblock print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi. The sheet belongs to the series "Twenty-Four Paragons of Filial Piety" and dates from around 1840. It is in the horizontal ōban format. An outer and an inner scene are joined by a semicircular opening that gives onto the view beyond.

Description

A man in traditional dress turns to a group of people, his hand raised as if explaining. Before him one figure lies on the ground, another lingers near a donkey. Behind them stands a house, smoke rising from its chimney. A semicircular arch frames the view of a woman with a child on her lap and an older man. Blues, greys and browns set the palette, and the light falls evenly across the sheet.

Context

Around 1840, images of Confucian virtues were widespread in the Edo period, and Kuniyoshi took up this interest in his series. The "Twenty-Four Paragons of Filial Piety" go back to a Chinese collection of texts compiled by Guo Jujing in the thirteenth century. Kuniyoshi translated the scenes into Japanese visual idiom without altering the content of his source. In this later phase of his career he turned increasingly to historical and moral subjects.

Impact

The clear arrangement and restrained colour give the print a balanced, storytelling quality. The view through the semicircular opening creates spatial depth and draws the viewer into the action. The gestures and postures of the figures are closely observed and reinforce the moral message of the series.

Technique

For this colour woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and colours were printed on paper. Each colour required its own block, precisely aligned with the others. The horizontal ōban format (roughly 22.5 × 35.6 cm) suited such narrative scenes especially well.

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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)