Vrouw kijkend naar kind, kruipend uit gat in pilaar 1763 - 1768

Curator: Well, this looks like some kind of optical trick. At first glance I thought it was pretty unsettling! Editor: It’s definitely a playful piece. What we’re looking at is an ukiyo-e print by Ishikawa Toyonobu, titled "Vrouw kijkend naar kind, kruipend uit gat in pilaar"— or, "Woman Looking at Child Crawling Out of Hole in Pillar." It dates from around 1763 to 1768. Curator: Right. Toyonobu sets up a strange little drama. There’s this serene, stylish woman in what looks like traditional dress—then this bald toddler halfway out of a pillar! Like it's their own bizarre rabbit hole to another world, very Lewis Carroll if you ask me. Editor: The pillar disrupts the plane, quite literally opening a spatial paradox in this vertical composition. Notice how Toyonobu contrasts the sharp architectural lines of the building with the soft curves of the figures, heightening the contrast between the static environment and dynamic human presence. Curator: The woman looks so casual; is that a pillar baby-gate, or a secret entrance? What stories could we weave out of such simplicity and humor? I feel like something surreal and precious happened at the very same moment. Editor: Precisely. The charm resides in this playful contrast, where classical portraiture traditions engage in such whimsy, disrupting expectations around representation. The subtle gradations in tone achieved in printmaking are also key in building up such layered space. Curator: Now I think that a touch of this pillar's spirit could turn a mundane space into an amazing playground! What a clever twist in ukiyo-e! Editor: Indeed! It is thought-provoking how Ishikawa can play with tradition, perception, and illusion so eloquently, don’t you think?