March 2006

The Floating World in the Eighteenth Century

March 28–April 7, 2006

During Asia Week 2006 Sebastian Izzard LLC presented The Floating World in the Eighteenth Century, an exhibition featuring twenty-five Japanese paintings and prints depicting a broad cross-section of fashionable life and its participants in Edo, the modern Tokyo, during this period.

One highlight was a rare six-panel screen depicting the entertainments offered by the Yoshiwara brothel district, the environs of Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, and the grounds of the Kan’eiji Temple in Ueno.

A number of important hanging scrolls of beautiful young women included works by major masters such as Kaigetsudo Ando (active 1704–36), Nishikawa Sukenobu (1671–1751), and Katsukawa Shuncho (active ca. 1780–95).

Among the prints were a fine group of early eighteenth century hand-colored theater prints by the Torii School, full-color prints by Suzuki Harunobu (1724–1770), an extremely rare large portrait of the actor Ichikawa Danjuro IV by Katsukawa Shunsho (1726–1792), and several prints by Toshusai Sharaku (active ca. 1794–95) and Kitagawa Utamaro (ca. 1754–1806).

Taken together this selection of works offered a survey of all the major developments in style, technique, and execution that occurred in this hundred-year period.