The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 1, 2023

Net Fishing at Night on the Sumida River

c. 1800

Part of a set. See all set records

Kitagawa Utamaro 喜多川 歌麿

(Japanese, c. 1754–1806)

Japan, Edo period

(1615-1868)

One of a triptych of color woodblock prints

Sheet: 38.6 x 25.4 cm (15 3/16 x 10 in.)

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade 1916.1116.b

Location

not on view

Description

Pleasure-boating in the evening on the Sumida River to escape the summer’s heat was about as popular as viewing cherry blossoms in spring for Edo townspeople. The river also led the way to the Yoshiwara, the licensed brothel district. A boating party with courtesans and gentlemen jostles up next to a fishing boat. Utamaro enjoyed portraying a scene through the design of a fishing or mosquito net. The different colors of the net suggest these impressions may be from two different series.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Signature: Utamaro hitsu Censorship Seal: kiwame

Provenance
?–1916
Mr. Jeptha Homer Wade II [1857–1926] and Mrs. Ellen Garretson Wade [1859–1917], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1916–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history

Japanese Woodblock Prints: Themes and Techniques. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Education Department (1980).

Visions of Japan: Prints and Paintings from Cleveland Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (December 12, 2004-April 10, 2005).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.1116.b