Two Women in a Storm
Original title: Two Women in a Storm
kurzbeschreibung
Suzuki Harunobu made this colour woodblock print between 1764 and 1772. It shows two women moving through a fierce rain or snowstorm under a yellow umbrella. The sheet is executed in ink and colour on paper and belongs to the Japanese ukiyo-e print tradition.
Description
Two women share a yellow umbrella, positioned slightly above the centre of the image. The one on the left wears a checked robe in red tones; the one on the right, a traditional dress in grey and white. Both have Japanese shoes on. A grey background, crossed by rain or snowflakes falling diagonally from top to bottom, surrounds them. The palette stays mostly muted, with accents of yellow and grey. Chinese characters appear at the lower right.
Context
Suzuki Harunobu ranks among the important ukiyo-e artists and is considered a pioneer of multicolour woodblock printing (nishiki-e). This print was made in the late Edo period, when such prints were popular in the urban culture of Edo (present-day Tokyo). Harunobu devoted himself mainly to pictures of women (bijin-ga), often in everyday scenes. The dating of 1764–72 falls in a phase when he produced his most mature works.
Impact
Despite the stormy weather, the image gives off a calm, almost intimate mood. The symmetrical arrangement of the two women and the bright yellow umbrella form a quiet counterpoint to the falling precipitation. Thus a still, poetic atmosphere emerges, typical of Harunobu's aesthetic.
Technique
The sheet was produced as a woodblock print, with ink and colour printed on paper. For this, a woodblock is given the design, inked, and then rubbed onto paper. At 26.4 × 20.6 cm, it corresponds to the standard chūban format. The use of several colour blocks allowed the fine gradations in red, grey, and yellow.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)