Twenty-Four Hours at Shinbashi/Yanagibashi: 12 Noon. (Shinyanagi nijūyo-ji, gozen jūni-ji) 1880

Curator: Oh, isn't she striking? So poised and elegant. I feel almost intrusive, as if I've stumbled into her private salon. Editor: Well, let's set the stage properly. What we're looking at is titled "Twenty-Four Hours at Shinbashi/Yanagibashi: 12 Noon." It's a woodblock print from around 1880 by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi. The Metropolitan Museum has it, another treasure in their vast collection of ukiyo-e pieces. Curator: Ah, Yoshitoshi! A master of mood. What I find fascinating is that little inset up top. A photographer under his dark cloth—a snapshot within a snapshot! I feel like Yoshitoshi is asking questions about representation and how different lenses change how we see a person. Or is it a simple joke? Editor: Possibly. These prints, especially later ukiyo-e, really blurred the lines between fine art and mass media, they comment on emerging photographic portraits and how artists perceived such change in the cultural and social settings of that time. It speaks to the era’s obsession with capturing moments in time, with this tension of an artwork both resisting and embracing photography’s rise. Curator: That rich red backdrop really intensifies that effect, doesn't it? I notice, that's where all the action is, almost screaming modernity. Down below, there is our lady with her calm demeanor and the most fantastic hairstyling, sitting near that floral arrangement; a subtle declaration of enduring values in a transforming world? Editor: Exactly! She’s placed near a more traditional setup. Note the color choice of soft green versus the starker red— it almost divides time between them. And I think this composition isn't accidental. These juxtapositions is Yoshitoshi cleverly commenting on what was important to maintain. Curator: Such insight from what appears at first to be just a pretty face! The little details start to speak, and, with a bit of digging, sing out. Editor: Yes, exactly, art gives a little and we take what we want in return, hopefully something new to reflect on.