Nambyō Ryōji c. 1847 - 1852

Editor: So, this is Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s "Nambyō Ryōji" from the Harvard Art Museums. The expressions are just wild! What's your take on the narrative being depicted here? Curator: It's like a visual cacophony, isn't it? I feel this madcap energy bubbling beneath the surface. The figures, almost caricatures, are caught in a moment of intense activity or emotion, perhaps even a darkly humorous satire on social rituals. What do you make of the bold color choices? Editor: It is a bit satirical. The colors remind me of kabuki theater. I didn’t think of it as ritual before, that's really interesting. Curator: Absolutely! Kuniyoshi had this incredible knack for blending the theatrical with the everyday. It's as if he's winking at us, inviting us to find the absurdity in the mundane. Don't you think art is just a little bit magical when it manages to do that?