Signed: “Yoshu Chikanobu”

Colored ink on paper; diptych.

In this series, Chikanobu created a dramatic juxtaposition of multicolored close-up figural images with distant landscape scenes printed in blue and peach-colored inks. The detailed depiction of women continues the nishiki-e tradition that the artist has followed for decades, but the use of "blue color printing" (ao-zuri) is unusual for him and deliberately recalls the 1820'-1830's landscape and figural prints of Hiroshige and Hokusai, especially his depictions of Mt. Fuji. In this print, a woman in the foreground gestures to a mother and daughter walking along Shichirigahama, a beach near Kamakura, with a majestic image of Mt. Fuji rising beyond the pine studded cliffs around Sagami Bay. The light colors and thin fabric of the woman's garment gives a mid-summer looks to this image. Butterfly patterns adorn both her pale green inner robe and the medallions of her sash. She has a timeless quality, but the jeweled gold ring on her left hand makes this a modern image. Shading her eyes a woman looks over to the rugged cliffs at Suzumegaura where someone walks past several caves. A boat of tourists glides by.

For more information, please refer to the Chikanobu exhibition catalogue.

Purchased by Bruce Coats from Hara Shobo, in Tokyo in June 2004, using Aoki funds.

Matsuki Heikichi

This object has the following keywords:

• Groups
• Meiji (no date)

This object is a member of the following portfolios: