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Lovers in a Room

Lovers in a Room

Artist/Maker (Japanese, 1618–1694)
Publisher
Date1673–81
MediumWoodblock print (sumizuri-e); ink on paper with hand coloring
DimensionsHorizontal ōban; overall: 11 × 13 11/16 in. (27.9 × 34.8 cm)
Credit LineMary A. Ainsworth Bequest
Object number1950.135
Status
Not on view
More Information
A courtesan and young man, or wakashū, are depicted leaning toward each other in a relaxed, intimate fashion, the young man’s robe tossed casually on the floor behind them. He has removed his sword, and it lies near him. Similarly, she has finished playing her shamisen, and it lies with the robe. This is one of the first in a series of approximately fourteen prints that portray a sequential narrative. The imagery becomes more and more erotic as the series progresses. This type of subject was known at the time as “pillow pictures” (makura-e), “dangerous pictures” (abuna-e), and even “giggling pictures” (warai-e).
Exhibition History
Forty-eight Japanese Prints from the Mary A. Ainsworth Collection
  • University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN ( 1954-02 - 1954-02 )
  • University of the South, Sewannee, TN ( 1954-03 - 1954-03 )
Summer Asia Institute Exhibition
  • Kresge Art Center, Michigan State University (June 24, 1959 - July 30, 1959 )
An American University Collection: Works of Art from the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, Ohio
  • Kenwood House, London (May 3, 1962 - October 30, 1962 )
Japanese Prints from the Ainsworth Collection
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (September 18, 1979 - October 21, 1979 )
Japanese Prints from the Mary A. Ainsworth Collection
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (May 20, 1986 - July 20, 1986 )
Japanese Woodblock Prints: Selections from the Mary A. Ainsworth Collection
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (May 1, 1992 - June 14, 1992 )
Visions of Turmoil and Tranquility: Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Collection
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (September 17, 2005 - December 23, 2005 )
Envisioning Edo's Splendor: The Floating World and Beyond
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (February 3, 2009 - July 19, 2009 )
A Life in Prints: Mary A. Ainsworth and the Floating World
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (February 3, 2015 - June 7, 2015 )
Ukiyo-e Prints from the Mary Ainsworth Collection
  • Chiba City Museum of Art, Chiba, Japan (April 13, 2019 - May 25, 2019 )
  • Shizuoka City Museum of Art, Shizuoka, Japan (June 8, 2019 - July 28, 2019 )
  • Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts, Osaka, Japan (August 10, 2019 - September 29, 2019 )
Ukiyo-e Prints from the Mary Ainsworth Collection
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (January 14, 2020 - December 6, 2020 )
Collections
  • Asian
This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator. Noticed a mistake? Have some extra information about this object? Please contact us.