Page 448 - Edo: Art in Japan, 1615–1868

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250 • In these two images Harunobu composition. In Harunobu's hallmark
Suzuki Harunobu (c. 1724-1770) effectively uses the veranda setting style the youthful figures are situated
Whispering to represent an intermediate space in a highly structured architectural
between an interior, intimate, and matrix of intersecting diagonals, here
c. 1766-1768
Color woodblock print private sphere of human activity and accented by the reed screens and
28.4x21.2 (nVsxSVs) an exterior, exposed, natural place. latticed windows. In the room to the
Tokyo National Museum In the first example (cat. 250) a young rear a smoking set and clock indi-
woman whispers a secret into her girl- cate the cross purposes of pursuing
251 friend's ear. The latter conceals her leisure and keeping appointments.
Suzuki Harunobu (c. 1724-1770) tittering (or astonished) expression In the second image (cat. 251) a maid
Lovers on a Veranda with the raised collar of her inner robe. spies on a woman and a young man
c. 1766-1768 Completely swathed in loose-fitting through a crack in the sliding doors.
Color woodblock print garments, the two figures merge into Playing on the theme of voyeurism, the
7
27.5 x 20.2 (io /sx8) a delightful medley of soft forms and artist allows the viewer into a small,
Tokyo National Museum curved lines. The flowery motif of intensely private moment we are not
the rose-colored robes of one woman supposed to see but cannot resist. JTC
seems to grow right out of the garden
soil, bestowing an organic unity on the