The Floating World






Works in this room
Japanese woodblock prints of the floating world: actors, courtesans, landscapes and the sea.
Section 1, north wall

Searching for FirefliesSuzuki Harunobu, 1768Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago 
Outfit for the Game of IncenseRyūryūkyo Shinsai, 19th centuryCourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
The actor Ichikawa Omezo as the manservant IppeiTōshūsai Sharaku, 1794Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
Section 1, south wall

Net Fishing at Night on the Sumida RiverKitagawa Utamaro, c. 1800Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art 
A View of the Large New Room at SakuraiUtagawa Kunisada, early or mid 1830sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art 
A Girl Writing a LetterSuzuki Harunobu, 18th centuryCourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Section 2, south wall

Hara: Mount Fuji in the Morning (Hara, Asa no Fuji), from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō Road (Tōkaidō gojūsan tsugi), also known as the First Tōkaidō or Great TōkaidōUtagawa Hiroshige, ca. 1833–34Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
Sei Shonagon, from the series Ancient Patterns (Kodai moyo)Kobayashi Kiyochika, Meiji period (1896–1912), 1896Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago 
The Actor Onoye Matsusuke as a RoninTōshūsai SharakuCourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Section 2, north wall

American Woman Riding Side-Saddle on the Road at Honmoku, Motomura, Yokohama (America Yokohama Motomura Honmoku michi)Utagawa Hiroshige II, 2nd month, 1861Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
Kanagawa in Musashi Province: Distant View of Yokohama (Yokohama enbo), from the series Calligraphy and Pictures for the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Shoga gojusan eki)Utagawa Yoshimori, 1982Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago 
The Shika TeahouseUtagawa Toyokuni, early 1790sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
Section 3, north wall

Ichikawa Monnosuke II as Soga no GorōKatsukawa Shunkō, 1779Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art 
The Poetess Ono no KomachiSuzuki Harunobu, Edo period (1615–1868), 1767/68Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
Section 3, south wall

The actor Osagawa Tsuneyo II as Osan, Ippei’s elder sisterTōshūsai Sharaku, 1794Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago 
Cherry Shell, from the series Genroku Poetry Shell GamesKatsushika Hokusai, probably 1821Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art