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A Spring View of Surugacho in the Eastern Capital: A Triptych

A Spring View of Surugacho in the Eastern Capital: A Triptych

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Utagawa Sadafusa

Sadafusa, a student of Kunisada, was most known for his pictures of beauties. This rare triptych design includes unusually large, detailed figures. Surugacho, just north of Nihonbashi Bridge, was home of the Mitsui dry goods store, predecessor to the modern-day Mitsukoshi department store. The store was prominently located on both sides of the Nihonbashi thoroughfare, which was aligned for a striking view of Mt. Fuji. Sadafusa’s composition includes an interesting device of placing the torsos and heads along the bottom edge of the picture plane producing a visual effect that gives the impression that the viewer is part of the bustling crowds. The crowd includes sumo wrestlers in the bottom right, high-class courtesans with elaborate dress and hairpins, a peddler selling potted plants, and children playing with a kite. The dramatic use of a single point perspective diminishing at the foot of Mt. Fuji recalls the founder Toyoharu’s perspective pictures, or uki-e.
Artist
Utagawa Sadafusa
(Japanese)
Title
A Spring View of Surugacho in the Eastern Capital: A Triptych
Date
1825-1835
Medium
Color woodcut
Dimensions
375 x 773 mm Overall
Credit
Bequest of John H. Van Vleck
Accession No.
1980.2753a-c
Classification
Prints
Geography
Japan

Related

By 1925, purchased in Japan by Frank Lloyd Wright; ca. 1926, acquired by The Bank of Wisconsin; 1928, sold to Edward Burr Van Vleck (Madison, WI); 1943, passed through inheritance to Edward’s son, John H. Van Vleck (Madison, WI); 9 January 1980, bequeathed by John H. Van Vleck to the Elvehjem Museum of Art [now called Chazen Museum of Art]

  • Mueller, Laura. "Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School." Leiden, The Netherlands: Hotei Publishing, 2007. p. 187, no. 175

  • Utagawa: Masters of the Japanese Print, 1770-1900 : Chazen Museum of Art, 3/21/2008–6/15/2008
  • Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School: Chazen Museum of Art, 11/3/2007–1/6/2008

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