Bathtime (Gyōzui)

Kitagawa Utamaro

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Utamaro often took his inspiration from the lives of common people, and he treated the theme of mother and child with more poignancy than did most artists. In Woman Washing a Baby in a Tub he depicted a mother performing a daily task that centers directly around her child. The rather large woman hunches over ungracefully as she bathes her son. In one hand the child holds a toy water bucket, which both echoes the activity in the tub and instructs him in the rituals of bathing; with the other hand he grabs his mother's arm in an effort to push her away. To enhance the visual excitement, Utamaro crops the bucket, the woman's leg, and the child's kimono. Prints such as these were the inspiration for the first series of prints made by the Impressionist artist Mary Cassatt.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art