Young Woman Riding a Phoenix
Original title: Young Woman Riding a Phoenix
kurzbeschreibung
Suzuki Harunobu made this print in 1766, showing a young woman in traditional dress riding on the back of a phoenix. It is a nishiki-e, a multicolour woodblock print in ink and colour on paper, in the horizontal chūban format. The sheet belongs to the circle of colour prints Harunobu was developing from about 1765 onward.
Description
The woman wears a long black-and-white robe patterned with flowers; a fan rests in her right hand, and she looks downward. Golden feathers define the phoenix, whose long tail seems to stir, lending the sheet a lively pull. Plants and leaves in gold and brown tones rise at the front. The layout is asymmetric: the pair holds the middle, the foliage steps forward in layers, and the palette stays warm throughout.
Context
Harunobu ranks among the major woodblock artists of the Edo period and is regarded as a pioneer of nishiki-e, the multicolour print he introduced around 1765. This sheet dates from 1766, when such prints were made as precious collectibles for a wealthy urban public. A woman on a phoenix draws on mythological ideas that, in Japanese art, convey good fortune and exaltation.
Impact
The woman's elegant poise and the phoenix's moving form meet in a way that makes the image lively and almost hovering. Warm, carefully tuned colouring gives the sheet a calm, noble presence that draws the viewer's eye into the scene.
Technique
Several woodblocks were used for printing, one for each colour, fitted precisely to one another. Ink and colour sit on paper; contours stay sharp and colour areas clearly bounded. Such detailed work attests to the high craft for which Harunobu's prints are known.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)