Women on a Veranda Stretching Cloth to Dry

Date:: c. 1799
Medium:: Color woodblock print; surimono
Format:: Oban
Source:: Art Institute of Chicago

Typical Price

Later reprint (Meiji–Taisho era publishers): $100–$500
Good later impression (Edo-period, worn plate): $2,000–$8,000
Good early impression (fine line work, crisp): $8,000–$25,000
Fine early impression (exceptional line quality and condition): $25,000–$60,000

From Hokusai's Eight Views of Omi in Etching Style (Doban Omi hakkei), a rare venture into Western-style copperplate intaglio printing. These prints reveal Hokusai's lifelong fascination with European techniques.

Description

Women on a sun-lit veranda stretch a length of fabric between them, pulling it taut to dry after washing or dyeing in this surimono from around 1799. The scene belongs to Hokusai's sustained attention to the domestic textile arts that occupied much of the female labor of Edo households and workshops, the cloth's pattern and the women's coordinated posture creating a composition of elegant geometric precision.