Oroku
- Date:
- 1864, 7th lunar month
- Medium:
- Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper
- Format:
- Oban
- Dimensions:
- 35.4 × 24.1 cm
- Source:
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
Description
A bijin portrait from Kyosai's early career, depicting a woman named Oroku in the format and style of the nishiki-e (brocade print) tradition. Dated to the seventh lunar month of 1864, this work reveals Kyosai's mastery of the conventional beautiful-women genre before he transformed it with his own eccentric vision. The precise date suggests it was part of a series of seasonal portraits — the seventh month corresponding to the Tanabata festival period — giving the work an elegiac, summer-evening mood.
More Prints by Kawanabe Kyosai
Tenpôzan in Osaka: Viewing Children's Sumo (Naniwa Tenpôzan kodomo sumô shôran), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô
1863
Woodblock print
Kyosai, Royal Academy, London, FREE DOMESTIC SHIPPING
2022
Original Museum Lithographic Exhibition Poster
from the series One Hundred Pictures by Kyôsai (Kyôsai hyakuzu)
Woodblock print
Gontazaka, from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô meisho no uchi
Woodblock print
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Frequently Asked Questions
Oroku was created by Kawanabe Kyosai (河鍋暁斎) in 1864, 7th lunar month.
Oroku depicts figures, bijin-ga, and portraits.
Oroku measures 35.4 × 24.1 cm (Oban format).