Een hedendaagse versie van het Genji verhaal 1855

Curator: Welcome to the Rijksmuseum. We are standing before "A Contemporary Version of the Genji Story," a captivating woodblock print created around 1855 by Utagawa Kunisada. It provides a window into Japanese genre painting from the Ukiyo-e period. Editor: Hmm. I get a real sense of leisure and quiet concentration here. Look at the variety of blues! It's subtle yet mesmerizing. I am immediately drawn to the woman playing the instrument; there is music in her gestures. Curator: Kunisada was a leading printmaker of his time, celebrated for his portraits of actors, beautiful women, and scenes from historical tales. His Ukiyo-e prints weren't simply aesthetic; they also reflected social and cultural dynamics of the Edo period. These "pictures of the floating world" depict daily life, fashion, and popular culture of the urban centers. Editor: And you see how their world almost floats? With soft colour palettes the water in the background seems more a memory of it than something tangibly real. It’s all contained and balanced by these internal gazes between the women. It's like being invited into a secret, shared moment, all that femininity collected in that room… fascinating! Curator: It is an excellent observation, as this composition depicts several women engaged in creative or domestic tasks: playing music, writing, and drinking tea in the quiet scenery that provides that external and inner dynamic of the scene. Each is engrossed in her activity, their connection creating a cohesive atmosphere. This focus reveals social codes for the aristocracy of that time. Editor: So you are talking about something like silent luxury and that their interactions with the instruments or objects around them are sort of silent performances themselves… Their clothes and robes create different dimensions of shape too—are they like containers for their expressions too? It makes me think about how art can hold our attention without being loud at all! Curator: That is precisely it. Their garments symbolize the status and taste of the period as the "ukiyo," the ever changing spirit of a hedonistic moment that makes us look beyond the superficial of beauty but a refined inner life. It provides both emotional richness, historical content, and social context to Utagawa's work. Editor: It’s almost meditative just standing here looking at them! You have a lot to discover only by letting the colours absorb the attention and by discovering the gazes of its beautiful subjects. Curator: Precisely, offering today a poignant view to our own lives reflected in a silent world in a fleeting present that reminds us beauty is everywhere to find even when unspoken.