Three Women on a Riverbank

early 19th century

Not on view

Three fashionably dressed women depicted in Kiyonaga's graceful, elongated style make their way along the banks of a river. While the primary focus is on the idealized beauties, landscape details augment the scene with lively notes of time and place. Reeds and willow branches rustle in the strong riverside breeze that lifts the women's robes, suggesting a fine day in early summer. In the distance, the bustling traffic of commercial craft and pleasure boats alike add to the buoyant mood and locate the scene on the river Sumida. Coursing through the downtown commercial districts in the eastern part of the capital of Edo, it was a major thoroughfare, connected to a network of canals and emptying into Tokyo Bay. While abbreviated seasonal motifs were conventional in ukiyo-e paintings, this work is notable for its interest in movement in both figures and landscape and for the details faithful to the scenery of 18th century Edo.

Artwork Details

鳥居清永筆　隅田川三人図
Title: Three Women on a Riverbank
Artist: Torii Kiyonaga (Japanese, 1752–1815)
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: early 19th century
Culture: Japan
Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Dimensions: Image: 15 3/4 × 23 1/4 in. (40 × 59.1 cm)
Overall with mounting: 51 1/8 × 28 1/4 in. (129.9 × 71.8 cm)
Overall with knobs: 51 1/8 × 30 3/8 in. (129.9 × 77.2 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: The Howard Mansfield Collection, Purchase, Rogers Fund, 1936
Object Number: 36.100.46
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

By Torii Kiyonaga

In the same medium

From the same time and place

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Two Women in a Garden, Torii Kiyonaga Japanese, Woodblock print; ink and color on paper, Japan — Two Women in a Garden
Torii Kiyonaga
ca. 1789

Ichikawa Danjuro Fifth as Kyo no Jiro in Disguise as Dekuroku byoe the Stree Puppet-showman, Torii Kiyonaga Japanese, Woodblock print; ink and color on paper, Japan — Ichikawa Danjuro Fifth as Kyo no Jiro in Disguise as Dekuroku byoe the Stree Puppet-showman
Torii Kiyonaga
ca. 1788

On a Balcony a Woman is Seated Playing a Tsuzumi, below a Man in Daimyo Costume is Seated upon a Black Lacquer Box, Torii Kiyonaga Japanese, Woodblock print; ink and color on paper, Japan — On a Balcony a Woman is Seated Playing a Tsuzumi, below a Man in Daimyo Costume is Seated upon a Black Lacquer Box
Torii Kiyonaga
ca. 1790

Two Women in Summer Costume Taking a Young Girl to a Shinto Temple for the Miya Mairi Ceremony, Torii Kiyonaga Japanese, Woodblock print; ink and color on paper, Japan — Two Women in Summer Costume Taking a Young Girl to a Shinto Temple for the Miya Mairi Ceremony
Torii Kiyonaga
ca. 1783

Cooling off at Sashiye, Torii Kiyonaga Japanese, Woodblock print; ink and color on paper, Japan — Cooling off at Sashiye
Torii Kiyonaga
ca. 1782

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