Double-page Illustration from Vol. 2 of "Picture Book of Spring Brocades (Ehon haru no nishiki)" 1771

Editor: Here we have a double-page woodblock print from Suzuki Harunobu's "Picture Book of Spring Brocades," dating back to 1771. I find the depiction of everyday life quite engaging. How can we view this image through the lens of its production? Curator: Considering it’s a woodblock print from the Edo period, what insights does the materiality offer? Notice the flatness of the composition, and the simplification of forms achieved through carving and printing. This wasn’t high art, initially. Think about the workshops, the collaborative labor – artists, carvers, printers – involved in mass producing these images for consumption by a growing merchant class. Editor: So, the process democratized art to some extent? How would that influence the subject matter? Curator: Precisely! Ukiyo-e, the "pictures of the floating world," reflect the desires and fleeting pleasures of this new urban population. Look at these women indoors, during a downpour. What does the choice of this specific moment of leisure time tell us? Editor: It suggests a growing consumer culture with more emphasis on daily pleasures. Curator: Indeed. And consider the very specific techniques of color printing - the way each block applies to the page; notice also that the book form facilitates an easy reproduction and access. So how do we see labor reflected in both the subject and object? Editor: I see. We have these women taking part in leisure, the subject is leisure; and then the art object becomes the accessible art. Thank you, that makes this artwork far more engaging! Curator: It highlights how art making itself can be tied to evolving material conditions. The brocade, for example, signifies a textile, and points to clothing industries! Thinking of it, production has changed my mind a little.