A Couple of Lovers Playing with a Monkey 1780

Editor: So, this is "A Couple of Lovers Playing with a Monkey," a woodblock print made around 1780 by Torii Kiyonaga. The print has a subdued and tender feeling to it. It looks like an intimate scene. What catches your eye in this work? Curator: The languidness. The very essence of a hot, drowsy afternoon captured in ink and pigment. Notice how the willow's branches droop just so, mirroring the couple’s posture. It is as if Kiyonaga is using the landscape to paint the feeling within, isn't it? Do you feel a similar empathy conveyed, even by the subdued colors and their careful registration in the printing? Editor: I can see that, the mirroring. The willow adds a melancholic feeling... or is it just restful? Curator: I think it is both and neither; Kiyonaga has captured that moment just before language pins down a feeling. Think of the *ukiyo-e* tradition...the floating world, not quite here, not quite there. It’s in that delicious in-between where the magic lives. Editor: That makes so much sense! So it's more about a feeling than a literal portrayal? Curator: Exactly! The monkey, playful and disruptive, is not simply a monkey. Is it their carefree abandon? Their mischief hinting at the fleeting nature of pleasure? Remember, these prints were often mass-produced. Think of the emotional, imaginative escape each buyer sought, and carried with them. Editor: So much more to consider than just the surface! I appreciate how you’ve reframed the work for me! Curator: And I appreciate your curiosity. It is in that shared wondering that we keep art alive.