Six Women and Child in a Snowy Garden c. 19th century

Editor: This print, attributed to Utagawa Toyokuni II, features women and a child in the snow. The details in the robes and the falling snow are lovely. What strikes you about it? Curator: It's the labor involved in producing these prints that fascinates me. The woodblocks, the layers of color meticulously applied... Consider the social context of woodblock production during this period – the artist, the block carvers, the printers, and the distributors. It's a whole system of making and consumption. Editor: So you see the value in understanding the work that goes into this, literally? Curator: Precisely. The materiality of the print itself – the paper, the ink, the wood – and how these elements intersect with the social and economic forces of the time – that is what gives the image its deeper meaning. Editor: That definitely gives me a new perspective. Thanks.