Young Woman Climbing a Ladder
Original title: Young Woman Climbing a Ladder
kurzbeschreibung
Suzuki Harunobu's print "Young Woman Climbing a Ladder" dates from around 1768. It shows a woman in Japanese dress standing on a ladder, plucking leaves from a branch. The subject is rendered as a colour woodblock print, printed in ink and colour on paper.
Description
A ladder sets the vertical measure of the image; the woman stands on it and reaches upward to loosen leaves from a bough, her gaze following the movement of her hand. She wears a kimono patterned with flowers and a hairband. Foliage and branches fill the surrounding space and tie the action to the natural world. At the lower right the artist's name appears in Japanese characters.
Context
Suzuki Harunobu worked as a Japanese woodblock artist in the eighteenth century and became known for his delicate, poetic female figures. This print belongs to the Edo period (1603–1868), when woodblock printing in Japan flourished as an art. It counts among the ukiyo-e prints, whose subject matter was everyday life and the beauty of nature.
Impact
Quiet settles over the sheet, carried by even light and restrained, nature-close tones. The woman's relaxed posture and the balanced layout produce an unobtrusive elegance.
Technique
Ink and colour were printed on paper, with crisp contours and a nuanced range of colour defining the result. Colour woodblock printing made it possible to combine several colours in a single printing pass, which heightens the liveliness of the subject.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)