Act II c. 1843 - 1847

Curator: Oh, there’s something about this that just pulls you in, doesn’t it? Editor: It’s a captivating scene, certainly. What we’re looking at is a woodblock print titled “Act II,” crafted sometime between 1843 and 1847 by Utagawa Hiroshige. Curator: Yes, Hiroshige! His work is just so…lyrical. Look at the woman with the tea, pausing, about to deliver her offering – what’s the mood it evokes for you? To me it speaks to intimacy and also formality. Editor: Indeed. The print invites reflection on gender roles and performativity. The careful attention paid to the rendering of clothing patterns and interior design locates this artwork within the ukiyo-e tradition, specifically of portraying genre scenes, but there’s so much more to explore here in its class dimensions. Curator: You see that in the leisure, perhaps even a hint of decadence of this moment, inside and outside. Editor: Absolutely. We can see the arrangement of figures within both an enclosed architectural space, as well as nature beyond, suggesting controlled environments and how behavior adheres to social norms that govern conduct in public. Curator: Ah, "controlled" – that word gives a shiver. And the garden! Such carefully arranged nature, mirroring, you could say, the arranged interactions indoors? It brings a stillness, a planned serenity... I am certain something's happening between those characters beyond that moment, just beyond the threshold of view, an interpersonal transaction, maybe it even carries historical heft. Editor: Agreed. The liminal spaces of the veranda act as a theatrical stage setting for the unfolding drama. There is also such interesting attention here to light and shadow that seems to amplify all these various oppositions. It begs questions of social hierarchies as well as those related to art history theory. The artwork becomes a valuable tool for exploring the intricacies of social dynamics within historical contexts. Curator: Looking at it like that… gives this idyllic domestic scene a new level of intensity. This work truly transcends surface beauty; a story unfolds the longer you stay. Editor: And so we see this scene frozen, an interlude forever printed for contemplation in this quiet moment inside a scene, caught at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. It makes you think, what’s the larger narrative arc here?