Reluctant Leave-taking
Suzuki Harunobu Japanese
Not on view
The application of one color over another increased the range of color and offered a means of creating subtle effects, such as transparency and shadowing. In this print of a young man departing from his lover, we see Harunobu's inventive employment of polychrome techniques in search of illusionary effects. The woman adjusts her lover's robe from under the veil of the mosquito netting, which we perceive to alter the color of her kimono. Color has now completely replaced line in the transformation of decorative patterning, as evidenced in the patterning of the kimono. Large areas of color also help to organize the composition through the suggestion of spatial depth.
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