A Foreigner Studying at Night
Utagawa Yoshikazu, Japanese, active c. 1850-70. Published by Maruya Jinpachi, Enjudō.
Geography:
Made in Japan, Asia
Period:
Edo Period (1615-1868)Date:
1860Medium:
Color woodcutDimensions:
Ōban tate-e: 13 1/2 x 9 inches (34.3 x 22.9 cm)Curatorial Department:
Prints, Drawings, and PhotographsObject Location:
1968-165-53Credit Line:
Purchased with the Lola Downin Peck Fund and with funds contributed by Lessing J. Rosenwald, Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Hauslohner, Dr. Emanuel Wolff, the Derald and Janet Ruttenberg Foundation, Mrs. Edward G. Budd, Jr., and David P. Willis, 1968
Made in Japan, Asia
Period:
Edo Period (1615-1868)Date:
1860Medium:
Color woodcutDimensions:
Ōban tate-e: 13 1/2 x 9 inches (34.3 x 22.9 cm)Curatorial Department:
Prints, Drawings, and PhotographsObject Location:
Currently not on view
Accession Number:1968-165-53Credit Line:
Purchased with the Lola Downin Peck Fund and with funds contributed by Lessing J. Rosenwald, Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Hauslohner, Dr. Emanuel Wolff, the Derald and Janet Ruttenberg Foundation, Mrs. Edward G. Budd, Jr., and David P. Willis, 1968
Label:
Japanese artists frequently struggled with depicting light and shadow in the heavy folds of the voluminous skirts of Western dresses, often resulting in unusual flat patterning rather than three-dimensional modeling. The curious white "highlighted" areas on the skirt of the woman's billowing dress may be an attempt by the artist to describe the sheen of a crisp fabric such as silk taffeta, a cloth commonly used for fashionable dresses at the time.
Japanese artists frequently struggled with depicting light and shadow in the heavy folds of the voluminous skirts of Western dresses, often resulting in unusual flat patterning rather than three-dimensional modeling. The curious white "highlighted" areas on the skirt of the woman's billowing dress may be an attempt by the artist to describe the sheen of a crisp fabric such as silk taffeta, a cloth commonly used for fashionable dresses at the time.