This portrait of the imperial family shows the emperor and empress flanking eight-year-old Prince Haru, the emperor’s only living son, who reigned as Emperor Yoshihito from 1912 until his son Hirohito took over from his ailing father in 1921. Family portraits like this one were a form of propaganda aimed at demonstrating the emperor’s cultural authority as a modern head of state. They also resonated with the government’s efforts to encourage Westernization. Although the painting of cranes, pine trees, and plum trees in the background and the dragon vase at center are traditional works featuring highly auspicious images of East Asian origin, the family’s clothing, hairstyles, books, and furnishings are conspicuously European.
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Medium:Triptych of woodblock prints (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions:14 3/4 x 29 5/8 in. (37.5 x 75.2 cm)
Classification:Prints
Credit Line:Gift of Lincoln Kirstein, 1959
Object Number:JP3241a–c
Signature: Oju Yoshu Chikanobu hitsu (comissioned of Yoshu Chikanobu)
Lincoln Kirstein American, New York (until 1959; donated to MMA).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Impressions of a New Civilization: The Lincoln Kirstein Collection of Japanese Prints, 1860–1912," May 20–September 7, 1986.
Santa Fe. New Mexico Museum of Art. "Impressions of a New Civilization: The Lincoln Kirstein Collection of Japanese Prints, 1860–1912," June 28–August 3, 1987.
Portland Art Museum. "Impressions of a New Civilization: The Lincoln Kirstein Collection of Japanese Prints, 1860–1912," August 28–October 4, 1987.
Billings. Yellowstone Art Museum. "Impressions of a New Civilization: The Lincoln Kirstein Collection of Japanese Prints, 1860–1912," October 31, 1987–January 3, 1988.
Santa Fe Community College Art Gallery. "Impressions of a New Civilization: The Lincoln Kirstein Collection of Japanese Prints, 1860–1912," February 13–March 20, 1988.
Albany Institute of History & Art. "Impressions of a New Civilization: The Lincoln Kirstein Collection of Japanese Prints, 1860–1912," April 16–July 17, 1988.
Minneapolis Institute of Arts. "Impressions of a New Civilization: The Lincoln Kirstein Collection of Japanese Prints, 1860–1912," August 6–November 6, 1988.
Charleston. Museum at Sunrise. "Impressions of a New Civilization: The Lincoln Kirstein Collection of Japanese Prints, 1860–1912," November 26, 1988–January 1, 1989.
Pullman. Washington State University. "Impressions of a New Civilization: The Lincoln Kirstein Collection of Japanese Prints, 1860–1912," January 21–February 26, 1989.
Champaign. Krannert Art Museum and Kinkead Pavilion, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "Impressions of a New Civilization: The Lincoln Kirstein Collection of Japanese Prints, 1860–1912," March 11–April 23, 1989.
Saint Louis Art Museum. "Impressions of a New Civilization: The Lincoln Kirstein Collection of Japanese Prints, 1860–1912," March 13–June 18, 1989.
Syracuse. Everson Museum of Art. "Impressions of a New Civilization: The Lincoln Kirstein Collection of Japanese Prints, 1860–1912," July 8–August 13, 1989.
Storrs. William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut. "Impressions of a New Civilization: The Lincoln Kirstein Collection of Japanese Prints, 1860–1912," September 2–October 15, 1989.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Family Life," March 15–May 19, 2002.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Anxiety and Hope in Japanese Art," April 8, 2023–July 14, 2024.
Meech-Pekarik, Julia. The World of the Meiji Print: Impressions of a New Civilization. New York: Weatherhill, 1986, color pl. 23.
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