Detail View: The AMICA Library: Lover's Visit
|
AMICA ID:
|
CMA_.1985.275
|
|
AMICA Library Year:
|
1998
|
|
Object Type:
|
Paintings
|
|
Creator Name:
|
Tamura, Suio
|
|
Creator Nationality:
|
Asian; Far East Asian; Japanese
|
|
Creator Role:
|
artist
|
|
Creator Dates/Places:
|
1793 - 1841
|
|
Gender:
|
M
|
|
Creator Name-CRT:
|
Suio Tamura
|
|
Title:
|
Lover's Visit
|
|
Title Type:
|
Primary
|
|
View:
|
Full View
|
|
Creation Date:
|
1680-1730
|
|
Creation Start Date:
|
1680
|
|
Creation End Date:
|
1730
|
|
Materials and Techniques:
|
hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
|
|
Dimensions:
|
Image: 50.5cm x 82.3cm, Overall: 155cm x 104cm
|
|
AMICA Contributor:
|
The Cleveland Museum of Art
|
|
Owner Location:
|
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
|
|
ID Number:
|
1985.275
|
|
Credit Line:
|
The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith
|
|
Rights:
|
|
|
Context:
|
Toward the end of the sixteenth century Japanese artists and their patrons became increasingly interested in depicting scenes of life in their own country rather than imagined vignettes of traditional China and Korea. With the consolidation of politicalauthority in the land and the resultant expectation of peace came economic prosperity. The arts also began a period of sustained growth and enrichment, supported not by the court or feudal lords so much as by the emerging merchant class. Although they occupied a low position in Japan's rigid social order, merchants enjoyed the new prestige of affluence and naturally found ways to indulge their interests at their leisure. They actively participated in and were oftentimes the principal benefactors of literary groups, tea ceremony parties, and the celebrated entertainment districts of Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo. In these precincts men from all classes were granted admission provided they had the financial means to pay or some creative talent that could be supported by a wealthy benefactor. The women of these pleasure quarters were the most beautiful and among the most educated in all society, and their company cost dearly in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Japan. Artists flocked to the Yoshiwara district inTokyo (then called Edo) too. They participated in its diversions and creative gatherings, recording many of its activities, personalities, and sights. Popular culture, in particular the entertainment worlds of the theater and the Yoshiwara, became a legitimate, vibrant subject in the established vocabulary of Japanese painting and literature. This charming portrayal of four young women enjoying an autumn afternoon together shows the camaraderie of the Yoshiwara beauties. Their conversations and reading has been interrupted by the arrival of a young man, the suitor of one of the women. The elegant robes and fine furnishings indicate the sophisticated taste of contemporary urban society in eighteenth-century Japan. And the idyllic, breezy outdoor setting depicted in the painting lends to the air of youth and optimism so characteristic of the time. M.R.C.
|
|
Related Image Identifier Link:
|
CMA_.1985.275.tif
|