Snow, Moon, and Cherry Blossoms (Yoshiwara in Three Seasons)

This triptych represents Yoshiwara, the brothel district of Edo, and its neighboring areas, in three seasons of the year, each with its most appealing feature—snow in winter, the moon in autumn, and cherry flowers in spring. In the center scroll, a courtesan proudly displays her beauty before her only rival—cherry blossoms, symbol of spring. The inscriptions on the scrolls are seasonal poems by Ōta Nanpo (Shokusan-jin, 1749–1823), the most popular satirical poet of his time.[1] The poem on the center scroll reads:

Nakano-chō uetaru hana no katawara ni
miyamagi nado wa hitomoto mo nashi.

Beside the flowering cherries of Nakanochō
Not a single tree from the deep mountain valleys.[2]

Nakanochō was the center of the Yoshiwara district. After cherry trees were planted there in 1749, they were often used as a metaphor for Yoshiwara. The poem here alludes to the unsurpassed beauty of the district's women.

On the left scroll, the route to Yoshiwara appears at its most enchanting, illuminated by the clear moon of autumn. After the district was relocated in 1657, away from the center of the city, the river Ōkawa was the most commonly used route.[3] A large pine tree called Shubi no Matsu (Pine of Fate), which stood on the riverbank, became a landmark for customers:

Yūshio ni tsuki no katsura no sao sashite
Sate yoi shubi no matsu o miru kana.

On the evening tide,
Rowing the boat with oars made of the
Katsura branch growing on the moon,
Now I look at the Pine of Fate,
Wishing for luck.

On the right scroll, the adventure of a hazardous journey through winter snow heightens the anticipation of pleasure at the end of the road:

Mimeguri no torii no kasagi omokereba
Chikaku te toki yuki no Yoshiwara.

Heavy snow is piled on the
lintel of the gate to the Mimeguri Shrine
Yoshiwara is near,
But it seems distant in this snow.

Hosoda Eishi (1756–1815), who painted this triptych, was born into a respected samurai family that included a number of high-ranking government officials. This was unusual, as most ukiyo-e artists were from the middle class. Eishi is believed to have studied painting with a leading Kano master, Michinobu (1730–1790). Sometime during the 1780s, after Eishi had given three years of service to the tenth shogun, Ieharu (r. 1760–86), he switched his artistic affiliation from the academic style to ukiyo-e, specializing in paintings and woodblock prints of courtesans.

Nearly monochromatic depictions of courtesans such as this one—perhaps a reflection of Eishi's early training in the Kano school—rely on subtle gradations of ink tonality as the major vehicle of expression. Known as beni girai (red avoiding), this technique differs from traditional ink monochrome in that it may include some gold, purple, yellow, and a touch of red. Many of Eishi's contemporaries used this technique for painting and printmaking in the 1780s and perhaps also in the early 1790s. It is well known that Sakai Hōitsu (cat.no. 134), a leading Rinpa artist who studied ukiyo-e painting, employed it for a painting that is dated by inscription to 1785.

The origin and practice of beni girai have long been attributed to a series of government restrictions that banned the use of red pigments and other rich colors in prints. This legislation was part of the Kansei Reforms, a puritanical policy implemented by the regent Matsudaira Sadanobu (1758–1829) from 1787 to 1793.[4] One study, however, states that Sadanobu referred to beni girai prints in his memoir of 1787 as "a recent development" and regarded them as no less sumptuously decorative than other types of prints.[5] Thus it would appear that monochromatic prints and paintings had already made their appearance prior to the Kansei Reforms, at least as early as 1785, the date of Hōitsu's painting.

Shokusanjin, the signature that appears in the inscriptions on the present scrolls, was the pen name of Ōta Nanpo. Born to an impoverished samurai family in Edo, Nanpo was a child prodigy in literature. At eighteen, he published books of Chinese-style poetry and while still in his teens a collection of kyōka (satirical poems), many of which parodied classical poetry. These biting, often vulgar verses quickly caught the attention of the townsfolk, and Nanpo is frequently credited with starting a kyōka craze in Edo. Nanpo developed a strong interest in ukiyo-e, and at least some portions of the first essay on this new type of painting, the Ukiyo-e ruikō, are attributed to him.[6] Nanpo wrote inscriptions on several paintings by Eishi; a portrait of Nanpo by Eishi, painted in 1814, is in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum.

The Burke triptych may be dated to late in Eishi's career. His earlier depictions of beauties were more ethereal in treatment. This courtesan, by contrast, impresses us with her physical presence, felt beneath the voluminous layers of heavy silk. Such a change in Eishi's style may be partially attributable to the influence of Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), Eishi's enormously popular contemporary. Although throughout his career Eishi appears to have used a fluid gyōsho (running script) signature on his prints, the signature on each of these scrolls is written in a careful kaisho (standard script), a feature of his later paintings. Nanpo is also believed to have adopted the name Shokusanjin only at the beginning of the nineteenth century, about 1802. Finally, the calligraphic style of the inscriptions points to Nanpo's late style. The triptych may thus be dated to the last dozen years of Eishi's life.[7]

[Miyeko Murase 2000, Bridge of Dreams]

[1] On the life of Ōta Nanpo, see Hamada Giichirō 1963; and Tamabayashi Haruo 1996.
[2] Translation in Rosenfield and Shimada Shūjirō 1970, no. 149; see also Ōta Nanpo 1985-90, vol. 1, p. 40.
[3] For a description of the customs of Yoshiwara, see Mitani Kazuma 1973; Jenkins 1993; and Seigle 1993.
[4] For a detailed discussion of this ordinance, see Asano Shūgō and Clark 1995, p. 41.
[5] Matsubara Shigeru 1981, pp. 27-33; see also Matsubara Shigeru 1985, pp. 4-15.
[6] Sakazaki Shizuka 1917, pp. 1376-1437.
[7] For a pair of paintings similar to two of the scrolls in the Burke triptych, also with colophons by Nanpo, see Rosenfield and Shimada Shūjirō 1970, no. 149

Signature: Chobunsai Eishi hitsu on each scroll

Inscription: Chobunsai Eishi hitsu (on each scroll); also, inscriptions by
Ota Nampo (1749-1823) on each scroll with signature "Shokusan-jin." For poems and their translations, see Murase, Bridge of Dreams, p. 367.

Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation , New York (until 2015; donated to MMA)

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Japanese Art: Selections from the Mary and Jackson Burke Collection," November 7, 1975–January 4, 1976.

Seattle Art Museum. "Japanese Art: Selections from the Mary and Jackson Burke Collection," March 10–May 1, 1977.

Minneapolis Institute of Arts. "Japanese Art: Selections from the Mary and Jackson Burke Collection," June 1–July 17, 1977.

Portland Art Museum. "The Floating World Revisited," October 26, 1993–December 30, 1993.

Cleveland Museum of Art. "The Floating World Revisited," February 2, 1994–April 3, 1994.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Japanese Art from The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," March 30–June 25, 2000.

Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu. "Enduring Legacy of Japanese Art: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," July 5, 2005–August 19, 2005.

Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum. "Enduring Legacy of Japanese Art: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," October 4, 2005–December 11, 2005.

Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. "Enduring Legacy of Japanese Art: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," January 24, 2006–March 5, 2006.

Miho Museum. "Enduring Legacy of Japanese Art: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," March 15, 2006–June 11, 2006.

Tsuji Nobuo 辻惟雄, Mary Griggs Burke, Nihon Keizai Shinbunsha 日本経済新聞社, and Gifu-ken Bijutsukan 岐阜県美術館. Nyūyōku Bāku korekushon-ten: Nihon no bi sanzennen no kagayaki ニューヨーク・バーク・コレクション展 : 日本の美三千年の輝き(Enduring legacy of Japanese art: The Mary Griggs Burke collection). Exh. cat. [Tokyo]: Nihon Keizai Shinbunsha, 2005, cat. no. 85.

Murase, Miyeko, Il Kim, Shi-yee Liu, Gratia Williams Nakahashi, Stephanie Wada, Soyoung Lee, and David Sensabaugh. Art Through a Lifetime: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection. Vol. 1, Japanese Paintings, Printed Works, Calligraphy. [New York]: Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, [2013], p. 231, cat. no. 279a–c.