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Bellflowers (Asagao), from the series Genji in Fashionable Modern Guise (Fūryū yatsushi Genji: Asagao)

1789–92
Not on view
In this “modernization” of Chapter 20, “Bellflowers,” Genji’s unsuccessful pursuit of Princess Asagao is given an Edo-period setting. The palace interior teems with stylish women, and Genji and Asagao are shown exchanging poems; in the tale, they do so only through intermediaries. The figures, tall and slender with refined features, are characteristic of Chōbunsai Eishi’s prints and paintings. As in other prints from this series of triptychs, the colors are limited, in this case to gray-blue, yellow, and a touch of green. In this respect they conform to the technique of beni-girai, or “avoiding red,” fashionable in the late 1700s.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 「風流やつし源氏　朝顔」
  • Title: Bellflowers (Asagao), from the series Genji in Fashionable Modern Guise (Fūryū yatsushi Genji: Asagao)
  • Artist: Chōbunsai Eishi 鳥文斎栄之 (Japanese, 1756–1829)
  • Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
  • Date: 1789–92
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Triptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper
  • Dimensions: a: H. 14 7/8 in. (37.8 cm); W. 9 7/8 in. (25.1 cm); b: H. 14 7/8 in. (37.8 cm); W. 9 3/4 in. (24.8 cm); c: H. 15 in. (38.1 cm); W. 10 in. (25.4 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Fletcher Fund, 1929
  • Object Number: JP1569
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
Men’s Stomping Dances (Otoko tōka) 男踏歌, Chōbunsai Eishi 鳥文斎栄之 Japanese, Woodblock printed book; ink and color on paper, Japan
Men’s Stomping Dances (Otoko tōka) 男踏歌
Multiple artists/makers
1798
Armor (<i>Gusoku</i>), Saotome Ietada Japanese, Iron, lacquer, silk, gilt copper, Japanese
Armor (Gusoku)
Armorer Helmet bowl signed Saotome Ietada
Armorer Breastplate inscribed inside, Myōchin Munesuke
16th and 18th centuries
Picture of Men and Women from all Nations (Bankoku danjo jinbutsu zue), Utagawa Yoshiiku Japanese, Triptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper, Japan
Picture of Men and Women from all Nations (Bankoku danjo jinbutsu zue)
Utagawa Yoshiiku
4th month, 1861
The Courtesan Hanaōgi of the Ōgiya Brothel (Ōgiya Hanaōgi), from the series Beauties of the Pleasure Quarters as Six Floral Immortals (Seirō bijin rokkasen), Chōbunsai Eishi 鳥文斎栄之 Japanese, Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper, Japan
The Courtesan Hanaōgi of the Ōgiya Brothel (Ōgiya Hanaōgi), from the series Beauties of the Pleasure Quarters as Six Floral Immortals (Seirō bijin rokkasen)
Chōbunsai Eishi 鳥文斎栄之
ca. 1794 (Kansei 6)
Helmet (<i>Zukinnari Kabuto</i>), Iron, lacquer, Japanese
Helmet (Zukinnari Kabuto)
Japanese
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