Goyu 1841 - 1842

Curator: Take a look at this woodblock print, "Goyu," created between 1841 and 1842 by Utagawa Hiroshige. It's currently housed right here at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Editor: Oh, my. The first thing that hits me is the air of calm. The figures seem suspended in a kind of serene, almost melancholic stillness. It's strangely moving. Curator: Indeed. Hiroshige was a master of capturing everyday life and transforming it into something deeply poetic. Observe the composition; the careful placement of the figures and structures leads the eye through the scene. It’s so carefully considered. Editor: I'm struck by the contrasts. We have those indoors figures lounging with an implicit invitation to linger. Then the outdoor folks are all journeying somewhere—that pointed, diagonal movement suggests that linear travel so very distinctly. There’s an internal logic to the layout. Curator: Precisely! And each one of the travelers hints at some other untold drama and possibility. That feeling is part of the brilliance of the Ukiyo-e genre: the ability to freeze a fleeting moment and invest it with so much quiet dignity. Look how much of that mood comes through, despite the limits of print-making! Editor: True, the texture from that block printing adds so much; it lends a handmade quality, that subtle humanness. You see that in all the characters: some look fatigued and others fresh from their own mysterious ventures! One can just feel this liminal transit in progress, some turning or crossing in their lives. Curator: I always come away from pieces like this thinking about all the stories the artist never told—but skillfully prompted us to dream up ourselves. Editor: I'll leave wanting to travel those old routes myself and fill them in with the music and poetry I invent along the way.