Couple in an Evening Shower, From the series Three Evening Pleasures of the Floating World

Couple in an Evening Shower, From the series Three Evening Pleasures of the Floating World

Kitagawa Utamaro

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The title of the series reveals that it parodies three evening scenes from the early-thirteenth-century anthology Shinkokin wakashū. The scenes are of sunset, the cool of twilight, and an evening rain. This image displays an appreciation of ordinary aspects of daily life, capturing the moment that the couple sets out in the rain, he tucks up his robe, and she prepares to open her umbrella. Utamaro, a prolific ukiyo-e artist, was fascinated by themes of daily life as well as by beautiful women.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Couple in an Evening Shower, From the series Three Evening Pleasures of the Floating WorldCouple in an Evening Shower, From the series Three Evening Pleasures of the Floating WorldCouple in an Evening Shower, From the series Three Evening Pleasures of the Floating WorldCouple in an Evening Shower, From the series Three Evening Pleasures of the Floating WorldCouple in an Evening Shower, From the series Three Evening Pleasures of the Floating World

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.