Beauties of the Seasons—Autumn

Object Details

• Artist

  Chobunsai Eishi 鳥文斎栄之 (1756-1829)

• School/Tradition

  Ukiyo-e

• Label

  Paintings of this type were often made in sets, showing beautiful women in the four seasons of the year. In this painting, two women, one holding a tobacco pipe, pause near an autumn maple. Many Japanese painters and designers of woodblack prints of the Edo period (1615-1868) specialized in the popular subject of beautiful women. Most of the women portrayed in the woodblock prints and paintings called ukiyo-e (pictures of the floating world) were courtesans, usually from the Yoshiwara, the officially sanctioned pleasure district in the city of Edo.

  Born to a family of governmental officials, Eishi specialized in paintings and prints of women, having studied painting with a master of the professional Kano school. His training is apparent in the precision and fine detail with which he renders textile patterns and facial features.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Japanese Arts in the Edo Period: 1615-1868, part 1 (August 18, 2007 to February 24, 2008)

  Boxed In: Japanese Ceramics and Their Storage Boxes (September 23, 1982 to February 17, 1983)

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

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

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1770s, 1780s, 1790s, 1730s, 1740s, 1750s, 1760s, 1800s, 1810s, 1820s, 1830s, 1610s, 1650s, 1640s, 1630s, 1620s, 1690s, 1840s, 1680s, 1850s, 1670s, 1860s, 1660s

• Name

  Chobunsai, Eishi

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Art, Autumn, Maple tree, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Ukiyo-e, Woman, Smoking

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Paintings