The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Beauties at the Seashore

c. 1765–92

Ippitsusai Bunchō

(Japanese, active c. 1765–92)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Image: 41.3 x 54 cm (16 1/4 x 21 1/4 in.); Overall: 134 x 72.8 cm (52 3/4 x 28 11/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1963.506
Location: Not on view

Description

Bunchō portrays the popular subject of cooling off by the water on a late spring or early summer evening, as suggested by the willow. The seated lady enjoys her pipe-smoking—a popular pastime for Edo women. In the background, some fireworks are set off from a small boat.
  • ?–1963
    (N. V. Hammer, Inc., New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1963–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Narazaki. "Ippitsusai Bunchō hitsu: yū suzumi zu." Kokka 國華, no. 836 (1961), pp. 528–531. Reproduced
    Yoshida and Kaneko. "'Kokka' shosai-no Bunchō nikuhitsu-no mondai." Ukiyo-e 浮世絵, no. 3 (1962), pp. 48–59. Reproduced
    Henning, Edward B. "Annual Report for 1963." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 51, no. 6 (1964): 127–161. Mentioned: pp. 142 and 144 www.jstor.org
    Young, Martie W. and Robert J. Smith. Japanese Painters of the Floating World: [Exhibition]. Ithaca, NY: Office of University Publications, Cornell University, 1966. Mentioned and Reproduced: pl. 45, pp. 19 and 97
    Lane, Richard. “Ukiyo-E Paintings Abroad. A Review Article.” Monumenta Nipponica 23, no. 1/2 (1968): 190–207. Reproduced: fig. 6; Mentioned: p. 191 www.jstor.org
  • Later Japanese Art Gallery Rotation (Gallery 113). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (August 25–December 2, 2003).
    Later Japanese Art Gallery Rotation (Gallery 113). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 20–May 6, 2003).
    Ukiyo-e Paintings. Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (organizer) (April 5-June 19, 1966).
    Japanese Painters of the Floating World: [Exhibition]. Andrew Dickson White Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, and the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, NY (April-June, 1966).
    Year in Review (1963). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 27, 1963-January 5, 1964).
  • {{cite web|title=Beauties at the Seashore|url=false|author=Ippitsusai Bunchō|year=c. 1765–92|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1963.506