Collection Online as of January 27, 2023

Elegant Pleasures of the Four Seasons

c. 1782

attributed to Kitagawa Utamaro

(Japanese, 1753–1806)

Japan, Edo period

(1615-1868)

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Sheet: 26.1 x 39.1 cm (10 1/4 x 15 3/8 in.)

Bequest of Edward L. Whittemore 1930.196

Location

not on view

Description

The title of this print suggests a series of four, but only this wintry print is known. A boy has dropped his toy wrestlers as he is hoisted up to a woman who has been enjoying a book at the heated table. Her companion buries her head beneath the blanket to stay warm, her bare feet exposed by a girl tending the hot coals in the pit in the floor.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Itchō ga

Kitagawa Utamaro

Japanese painter, draftsman, and woodcutter, 1753-1806

Provenance

Charles B. Eddy Collection

(Yamanaka & Co.)

Edward L. Whittemore

Exhibition history

Japanese Prints from the Museum Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 5-October 28, 1934).

Transformations in Japanese Printmaking. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 25-December 16, 1984).

Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation - January-July 2017. The Cleveland Museum of Art (January 9-July 10, 2017).