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Enjoying the Evening Cool on the Riverbed at Shijo Gawara (四条河原夕涼体, Shijo-gawara yusuzumi no tei)
Enjoying the Evening Cool on the Riverbed at Shijo Gawara (四条河原夕涼体, Shijo-gawara yusuzumi no tei)
Enjoying the Evening Cool on the Riverbed at Shijo Gawara (四条河原夕涼体, Shijo-gawara yusuzumi no tei)

Enjoying the Evening Cool on the Riverbed at Shijo Gawara (四条河原夕涼体, Shijo-gawara yusuzumi no tei)

Maker (Japanese, 1752-1815)
Datecirca 1784
MediumColor woodblock (oban) on wove paper
DimensionsBlock: 15 3/16 x 10 1/4 in. (38.6 x 26 cm)
Credit LineGift of Warren G. Moon, Madison, Wisconsin in honor of Professor Harrie A. Vanderstappen
Object number1984.8
Object TypePrints
On View
Not on view
This woodcut is the center sheet of a larger triptych (three-piece composition), considered one of Kiyonaga's masterpieces. In its complete form, the print shows six geisha (traditional female entertainers) and three female attendants on a platform over the Kamo River in Kyoto. Although the triptych represents a unified panoramic view, each panel is conceived as an independent composition. The central sheet, like the two side panels, depicts a group of three women in varied poses. The sitting and standing women are fashionably dressed in the latest styles of the capital, Edo (present-day Tokyo). The older, reclining geisha wears a more conservative hairstyle and a kimono with a subdued design. Beautifully crafted objects such as a samisen (three-stringed guitar), food bowls, and a tsuitate (low standing screen) with a panel depicting irises, as well as Kiyonaga's signature, surround the women. One of the two lanterns is decorated with three black balls, a symbol of the pleasure quarter.