Floating Beauty: Floating Beauty Women in the Art of Ukiyo-e

Floating Beauty: Women in the Art of Ukiyo-e and these beauties were passive, attentive, examines historical perspectives on women and demure. Looking beyond the bijinga, this and their depiction in art in Edo Period Japan exhibition shows that women in Edo society took (1615 – 1858). Made up entirely of woodblock an active role in their own lives, and this fact is prints created in the ukiyo-e style, this exhibition echoed in the literature and drama of the period. highlights female characters in literature, kabuki theatre, and poetry; the courtesans and geisha Over fifty woodblock prints will be featured of the Yoshiwara district; and wives and mothers in the exhibition, including works by ukiyo-e from different social classes performing the duties masters Suzuki Harunobu, Kitagawa Utamaro, of their station, in order to gain some insight into Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Kunisada, the lives of women in pre-modern Japan. Kikugawa Eizan, and Utagawa Hiroshige. The entire exhibition is taken from the permanent In the tradition of ukiyo-e, women are most often collection of the Reading Public Museum. represented in the bijinga (“pictures of beautiful women”) genre. This was the feminine ideal,

ABOVE & TOP RIGHT: Gallery installation at Reading Public Museum FAR LEFT: Hasegawa Sadanobu I (Japanese, 1809 – 1879), Standing Courtesan, 1828, Gift, Mr. & Mrs. Jenckes through Mrs. Wendell Jay, 1956.70.1, Reading Public Museum, Reading, Pennsylvania. MIDDLE: Kikugawa Eizan (Japanese, 1787 – 1867), Lady Holding Oil Lamp, ink on paper, Museum Purchase, 1935.124.1, Reading Public Museum, Reading, Pennsylvania.

CONTENTS: 54 works in 52 frames; additional two works need vitrines SIZE: Approximately 170 linear feet EXHIBITION TOUR: Bruce Museum, Greenwich, CT

For exhibition fee and availability, please see enclosed price sheet.