Picking Clams
Utagawa Toyokuni I Japanese
Not on view
In the late eighteenth century, ukiyo-e printmakers began to create works consisting of three attached ōban ("large format") sheets of paper. Toyokuni took advantage of this layout to place figures in panoramic landscapes. In this triptych, he arranged a group of three figures in the foreground of each sheet and used Western perspective (uki-e) to draw our eyes to the seascape in the distance. At the center, beauties in stunning garments stand in graceful poses like actors on stage, flanking a handsome young man.
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