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Net Fishing at Night
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Pleasure-boating in the evening on the Sumida River to escape the summer’s heat was about as popular as viewing cherry blossoms in spring for Edo townspeople. The river also led the way to the Yoshiwara, the licensed brothel district. A boating party with courtesans and gentlemen jostles up next to a fishing boat. Utamaro enjoyed portraying a scene through the design of a fishing or mosquito net. The different colors of the net suggest these impressions may be from two different series.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineNet Fishing at Night (夜の四手綱), c. 1800. Kitagawa Utamaro (Japanese, c. 1754–1806). One of a triptych of color woodblock prints; sheet: 38.4 x 25.4 cm (15 1/8 x 10 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade, 1916.1116.c
