Artwork Page for White Sake

Details / Information for White Sake

White Sake

白酒図

c. 1934

Tateishi Harumi 立石春美

(Japanese, 1908–1994)
Culture
Japan, Shōwa period (1926–89)
Medium
Hanging scroll; ink, color and gold on paper
Measurements
Painting: 174.9 x 101.6 cm (68 7/8 x 40 in.); Mounted: 248 x 121 cm (97 5/8 x 47 5/8 in.)
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund 2022.44
Copyright
Copyright
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

The sitter for this portrait is likely one of two sisters who posed for a number of Tateishi Harumi’s paintings.

Description

A girl sits before a tray of colorful rice crackers and holds a cup of white sake, a sweet, low-alcohol fermented rice beverage. Both treats are served on Girls’ Day, celebrated on March 3. The ambience of the traditional occasion is disrupted by her dress. In the early 1900s, European-style dresses displaced the kimono to some extent as everyday attire. The artist also blended the European painting technique of a light source casting shadows, which had only recently been widely introduced, with traditional Japanese painting materials—ink and mineral pigments.
A vertically oriented ink and color painting depicts a young woman with a light skin tone kneeling against a minimalist cream backdrop. She wears a dark blue sailor-style uniform punctuated by a vibrant red neckerchief. Her gaze drifts to our left while she holds a white pedestal cup with both hands. Beside her, a small black tray holds folded papers with a floral motif. Her serene posture dominates the vast, empty space.

White Sake

c. 1934

Tateishi Harumi

(Japanese, 1908–1994)
Japan, Shōwa period (1926–89)

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