Enjoying the Cool Evening Breeze on and under the Bridge

Enjoying the Cool Evening Breeze on and under the Bridge

Kitagawa Utamaro

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In this ambitious group of prints, beautiful women appear in two stage areas as both performers and audience. At the top, women and children pause from their stroll to take in the view of boating parties on the river. The six panels of this hexaptych (with JP1685) were meant to be viewed singly or as a set. The individual compositions are masterfully united by the gazes that traverse the borders of the prints. Seen separately, each panel depicts a group of fashionably dressed spectators. When the panels are seen together, the observers become the observed.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Enjoying the Cool Evening Breeze on and under the BridgeEnjoying the Cool Evening Breeze on and under the BridgeEnjoying the Cool Evening Breeze on and under the BridgeEnjoying the Cool Evening Breeze on and under the BridgeEnjoying the Cool Evening Breeze on and under the Bridge

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.