id: 111681 accession number: 1930.211 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1930.211 updated: 2023-08-23 19:29:47.220000 Courtesans Promenading on the Nakanochō, c. 1790. Utagawa Toyokuni (Japanese, 1769–1825). Triptych of color woodblock prints; each: 37.8 x 25.8 cm (14 7/8 x 10 3/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Edward L. Whittemore 1930.211 title: Courtesans Promenading on the Nakanochō title in original language: 仲之町の花魁道中 series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1790 creation date earliest: 1785 creation date latest: 1795 current location: creditline: Bequest of Edward L. Whittemore copyright: --- culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) technique: triptych of color woodblock prints department: Japanese Art collection: Japanese Art type: Print find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Utagawa Toyokuni (Japanese, 1769–1825) - artist --- measurements: Each: 37.8 x 25.8 cm (14 7/8 x 10 3/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Transformations in Japanese Printmaking opening date: 1984-09-25T04:00:00 Transformations in Japanese Printmaking. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 25-December 30, 1984). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * Ukiyo-e: The Floating World Revisited. Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR (October 26–December 30, 1993);The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 2–April 3, 1994). cat. II-29 * Visions of Japan: Prints and Paintings from Cleveland Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (December 12, 2004–April 10, 2005). --- PROVENANCE (Yamanaka & Co., New York, NY) date: footnotes: citations: Hayashi Tadamasa date: footnotes: citations: Edward L. Whittemore [1862–1930], Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: ?–1930 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1930– footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: Nakanochō was the main street in Yoshiwara, a famous walled pleasure district that housed as many as 4,000 courtesans. In the early evening, elaborately dressed courtesans accompanied by attendants promenaded on the central thoroughfare, as in this scene. The open buildings with shop curtains hanging from their eaves are teahouses, establishments where men could arrange appointments with courtesans of the more prestigious brothels. wall description: The Nakanocho was the main street in the famous Yoshiwara pleasure district, a walled enclosure that housed as many as 4,000 courtesans during its height. In the early evening, elaborately dressed courtesans, accompanied by attendants, promenaded on the main thoroughfare, as in this scene.

On the left side of the street, an unaccompanied courtesan holding a long, slender pipe lounges on a porch and converses with another courtesan. At the right, a pair of courtesans attract the attention of two men, one presumably a samurai who wears a hooded cloak and hides his face behind a fan. The open buildings with shop curtains hanging from their eaves are teahouses, establishments where men could arrange appointments with courtesans in the more prestigious brothels. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Howard Conley Hollis. "The Edward Loder Whittemore Collection of Japanese Prints." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 17, no. 4 (1930): 64-66. page number: 64-66 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1930.211/1930.211_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1930.211/1930.211_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1930.211/1930.211_full.tif