Beauties of the Seasons---Winter

Object Details

• Artist

  Isoda Koryusai 磯田湖竜斎 (1735-1790)

• School/Tradition

  Ukiyo-e

• Label

  Comparatively little is known about Koryusai. Various sources suggest that he was once a samurai in the service of the Tsuchiya domain (present-day Hitachi, north of Tokyo), or that his father held such a post. As an artist and designer, Koryusai enjoyed the tutelage of the very popular Suzuki Harunobu (1724-1770) and for a time used the studio name of Haruhiro, apparently given to him by Harunobu. During the decade of the 1770s, Koryursai produced highly regarded "beauty" prints as well as bird-and-flower prints, which often favored a long, narrow format.

  In these paintings, perhaps once part of a larger four-painting ensemble, Koryusai reveals himself to be a master of atmospheric evocation. His mature style, notable in the skillful depiction of worldly and sometimes churlish women, departs from the innocent beauties of the Harunobu style. The representation of the moods of the two women seen here is elaborated by the surrounding context of nature. The woman in this winter scene is bundled and pensive, a sense reinforced by the soft, steady, and all-pervasive snow.

  See F1902.38 for Koryusai's Beauties of the Season-Summer.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Freer: A Taste for Japanese Art (July 1, 2006 to January 1, 2007)

  Surveying the Collections: Poets and Parties (July 2, 2000 to February 4, 2001)

  Japanese Art (May 9, 1993 to August 1, 1994)

  Japanese Prints (January 18, 1980 to May 18, 1980)

  Japanese Ukiyo-e Painting (May 2, 1973 to July 1, 1974)

  Japanese Art—Paintings, Pottery (August 18, 1967 to September 20, 1971)

  Japanese Art, Galleries 3, 4, and 5 (January 1, 1963 to September 16, 1970)

  Ukiyo-e Exhibition (August 7, 1961 to January 1, 1963)

  Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 3 and 4 (February 25, 1956 to January 1, 1963)

  Untitled Exhibition, Japanese Art, 1955 (October 25, 1955 to November 22, 1955)

  Untitled Exhibition, Japanese Art (October 3, 1947 to February 25, 1956)

  Untitled Exhibition, Japanese Screens and Scrolls, 1946 (April 30, 1946 to October 3, 1947)

  Untitled Exhibition, Japanese Screens and Scrolls (April 5, 1933 to December 8, 1941)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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• Date

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• Name

  Isoda, Koryusai

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Winter, Snow, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Ukiyo-e, Woman, Kakemono

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Paintings