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The Floating World

Japanese woodblock prints of the floating world: actors, courtesans, landscapes and the sea.

172 works · hang 6756 ·

The rooms are imagined; every work on their walls is real.

Walk this roomRehang this room

Section 1, north wall

  1. Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), or The Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei), by Katsushika Hokusai, ca. 1830–32
    Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), or The Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)Katsushika Hokusai, ca. 1830–32Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. A work made of color woodblock print; ōban.
    Awa Province: Naruto Whirlpools (Awa, Naruto no fūha), from the series Famous Places in the Sixty-Odd Provinces (Rokujūyoshmeisho zue)Utagawa Hiroshige, 1855Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. Scene from a Play, by Katsukawa Shunjō, ca. 1780
    Scene from a PlayKatsukawa Shunjō, ca. 1780Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Section 1, south wall

  1. A work made of color woodblock print; surimono.
    A Pine Tree and CamelliasNiwa Tokei, 1840Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. American Woman Riding Side-Saddle on the Road at Honmoku, Motomura, Yokohama (America Yokohama Motomura Honmoku michi), by Utagawa Hiroshige II, 2nd month, 1861
    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
  3. A work made of color woodblock print; oban.
    One Person, Six Expressions (Hitori rokumenso)Kobayashi Kiyochika, 1884Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 2, south wall

  1. A color woodblock print of a large crashing wave, looms over two narrow boats full of people. Mt Fuji in the background. There is a faint peach colored sky.
    Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), also known as The Great Wave, from the series "Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei)"Katsushika Hokusai, 1830/33Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. A work made of color woodblock print.
    Women and Children Viewing the FireworksKatsushika Hokusai, c. 1798Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. Women Beside a Stream Chasing Fireflies, by Chôbunsai Eishi, c. 1796–97
    Women Beside a Stream Chasing FirefliesChôbunsai Eishi, c. 1796–97Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Section 2, north wall

  1. A work made of color woodblock print.
    Actor Onoe Matsusuke I as Retired Emperor SutokuKatsukawa Shunkо̄, About 1780Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. Print showing a string of travelers with horses walking along a narrow hillside path beneath an enormous craggy beige mountain at left and an equally massive and craggy deep-blue mountain at right. A brown snow-covered peak appears between these mountains. A mass of cream-colored clouds and a river with rounded ripples fill the middle plane of the composition.
    The Back of Mount Fuji Seen from Minobu River (Minobugawa Urafuji), from the series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)Katsushika Hokusai, 1830-33Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. A work made of color woodblock print; surimono.
    PeoniesKitagawa Utamaro, n.d.Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 3, north wall

  1. A work made of hand-colored woodblock print; toku-oban, urushi-e.
    Courtesan Reading a LetterIshikawa Toyonobu, c. 1745Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. Anekawa Daisuke as Ayame-no-mae, by Torii Kiyomitsu, 1760
    Anekawa Daisuke as Ayame-no-maeTorii Kiyomitsu, 1760Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Section 3, south wall

  1. The Shika Teahouse, by Utagawa Toyokuni, early 1790s
    The Shika TeahouseUtagawa Toyokuni, early 1790sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. A work made of color woodblock print; surimono.
    Three Types of ChrysanthemumsKitao Shigemasa, c. 1790Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago