Kunisada's 12 Months

October 10, 2008-March 1, 2009

Utagawa Kunisada, The fourth month: The first cuckoo, 1854. Gift of Marshall Gould 30.039.3

The theme of the 12 months, a subject first found in Japanese prints of the 18th century, exemplifies how the content of prints expanded beyond conventional representations of kabuki and the "floating world." Kunisada's (Toyokuni III's) brilliantly colored and patterned sequence of 12 triptych prints, produced in the mid-19th century, focuses on seasonal occupations and holiday observances. In highlighting the domestic activities of the annual calendric cycle, these genre prints also serve as useful historical documentation for 19th-century Japanese society.

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