Accession Number
1991/2.112

Title
Evening Scene in Tokyo: Woman with Umbrella on Bridge

Artist(s)
Takahashi Hiroaki

Object Creation Date
1920-1940

Medium & Support
color woodblock print on paper

Dimensions
14 15/16 in. x 6 11/16 in. ( 38 cm x 17 cm )

Credit Line
Gift of Millard Pryor in Memory of Mary S. Pryor

Label copy
One of the delights of summer in Japan is the phenomenon of yûdachi, sudden squalls that rise in the evening, bringing welcome relief from the intense heat of day. In this evocative scene, a woman who just got out of a public bath is trying to protect herself from wind and rain with an umbrella. It is not easy, since she has to use one hand to keep her kimono from flying open. Unwillingly, she holds a soap pouch in her mouth. Other clues to the season are swallows in the sky (associated with summer in Japan) and fishing net and sea anemone patterns in the woman’s kimono.
Takahashi Hiroaki created many prints for export to Europe and America. In this print, he adopted the overall composition from one of Andô Hiroshige’s prints, but he has subtly heightened the erotic flavor by making the woman both more vulnerable to the elements and lovely by conventional western standards.
Maribeth Graybill
“Four Seasons In Japanese Art”: Special Installation of Japanese Gallery at UMMA: Object Labels
July 5, 2003-January 4, 2004
The title, yu agari ("after the bath") is inscribed in the lower left hand corner of the print, just above a seal with the artist's name, Hiroaki.
*Gallery Rotation Winter 2011 (January 2011)
Takahashi Hiroaki
Japan, 1871–1944
After the Bath
1920–40
Taisho Period (1912–26) to early Showa Period (1926–89)
Color woodblock print on paper
Gift of Millard Pryor in Memory of Mary S. Pryor, 1991/2.112
Gallery Rotation Winter 2011
Takahashi Hiroaki
Japan, 1871–1944
After the Bath
1920–40
Taisho Period (1912–26) to early Showa Period (1926–89)
Color woodblock print on paper
Gift of Millard Pryor in Memory of Mary S. Pryor, 1991/2.112

Subject matter
One of the delights of summer in Japan is the phenomenon of yûdachi, sudden squalls that rise in the evening, bringing welcome relief from the intense heat of day. In this evocative scene, a woman who just got out of a public bath is trying to protect herself from wind and rain with an umbrella. Other clues to the season are swallows in the sky (associated with summer in Japan) and fishing net and sea anemone patterns in the woman’s kimono.
Takahashi Hiroaki created many prints for export to Europe and America. In this print, he adopted the overall composition from one of Andô Hiroshige’s prints, but he has subtly heightened the erotic flavor by making the woman both more vulnerable to the elements and lovely by conventional western standards.

Physical Description
A woman who just got out of a public bath is crossing a bridge and trying to protect herself with an umbrella from the wind and rain of a sudden yûdachi. She uses one hand to keep her kimono decorated with fishing net and sea anemone patterns from flying open, and carries a soap pouch in her mouth. Three swallows fly above. The title, yu agari ("after the bath") is inscribed in the lower left hand corner of the print, just above a seal with the artist's name, Hiroaki.

Primary Object Classification
Print

Primary Object Type
color print

Collection Area
Asian

Rights
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Keywords
bridges (built works)
storms