Net Fishing at Night on the Sumida River

Description

Pleasure-boating in the evening on the Sumida River to escape the summer’s heat was about as popular as viewing cherry blossoms in spring for Edo townspeople. The river also led the way to the Yoshiwara, the licensed brothel district. A boating party with courtesans and gentlemen jostles up next to afishing boat. Utamaro enjoyed portraying a scene through the design of a fishing or mosquito net. The different colors of the net suggest these impressions may be from two different series.

Provenance

Mr. Jeptha Homer Wade II [1857–1926] and Mrs. Ellen Garretson Wade [1859–1917], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art (?–1916); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1916–)

Net Fishing at Night on the Sumida River

Kitagawa Utamaro

c. 1800

Accession Number

1916.1116.a

Medium

One of a triptych of color woodblock prints

Dimensions

Sheet: 38.6 x 25.4 cm (15 3/16 x 10 in.)

Classification

Print

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade