Kobayashi Kiyochika
Japanese, 1847-1915
Sei Shonagon, from the series Ancient Patterns (Kodai moyo)
INV-1504
Kobayashi Kiyochika
Japanese, 1847-1915Meiji period (1896–1912), 1896
Sei Shonagon, from the series Ancient Patterns (Kodai moyo)
Kobayashi Kiyochika Japanese, 1847-1915 →Japanese (culture or style)woodblock printprint
Date
Meiji period (1896–1912), 1896
Medium
Color woodblock print, oban triptych
Dimensions
Left: 37.5 × 25 cm (14 13/16 × 9 7/8 in.); Center: 37.5 × 25 cm (14 13/16 × 9 7/8 in.); Right: 38.5 × 25.8 cm (15 3/16 × 10 3/16 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Mr. and Mrs. Hubert Fischer and Margaret Gentles funds
In this 19th-century triptych, Kobayashi Kiyochika depicted the revered tenth-century poet Sei Shōnagon, author of The Pillow Book, a collection of writings reflecting on her time as a court lady. She is dressed as a 10th-century woman, wearing a wide-brimmed traveler’s hat and veil. Her veil is beautifully rendered, and the artist muted the colors seen through it. The poem by Shōnagon reads:
Flee as I might,
If I remain within this world
I tire of nowhere:
Such a lovely place to live.
(Translation by Henry D. Smith II)
Also notable
Works in the same vein
Komurasaki of the Miuraya and Shirai Gompachi (Miuraya Komurasaki, Shirai Gompachi)
Kitagawa Utamaro 喜多川 歌麿 Japanese, c.1753-1806
Hamamatsu, from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)," also known as the Tokaido with Poem (Kyoka iri Tokaido)
Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重 Japanese, 1797-1858
Mitsuke: Ferries Crossing the Tenryu River (Mitsuke, Tenryugawa funawatashi), from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)," also known as the Tokaido with Poem (Kyoka iri Tokaido)
Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重 Japanese, 1797-1858
