Print 1786 - 1854

Utagawa Kunisada made this woodblock print whose date is unknown, but which today resides in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Kunisada was a commercial artist in Japan during the Edo period when the rise of a merchant class created a new market for art. This print depicts women in what appear to be domestic settings, and the cherry blossoms indicate the season of spring. How might the growth of urban centers and a moneyed, non-aristocratic class shape the artist's subject matter? Woodblock prints were often produced for mass consumption rather than aristocratic patrons, as in earlier periods. These prints were advertisements for the licensed pleasure quarters, fashion, and the Kabuki theatre. Art historians can look to popular novels and theatre to better understand the meaning of the images in these prints and the role of the artist in a changing society.