Cherry Blossom Viewing Party (Hanami no en)
花見の宴
- Date:
- 1862
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print; two panels of a vertical ōban triptych
- Source:
- Library of Congress
花見の宴
Hanami no en (1862, "Cherry Blossom Viewing Party") is a Bakumatsu-period vertical ōban [nishiki-e](/glossary/nishiki-e) composition by Toyohara Kunichika held by the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., as part of its Japanese prints and drawings collection. The print, surviving as two panels of a vertical ōban [triptych](/glossary/triptych) (LoC LCCN 2002700040), depicts a lavish hanami (cherry-blossom-viewing) outing, possibly an elegant family portrait, with a man in a jacket bearing Western-style lapels and a golden dragon design and a woman holding a screen — both garments signed in the print with the personal names of identifiable Edo figures, indicating that the work was a custom commission as well as a market print. The composition belongs to the genji-e tradition of contemporary scenes reimagined in classical Heian costume and setting, and shows Kunichika at the height of his ability to combine portrait specificity with the decorative vocabulary of late-Edo seasonal prints. The Library of Congress copy was studied and catalogued by Nichibunken-sponsored Edo print specialists in 2005-06 and exhibited in The Floating World of [Ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e): Shadows, Dreams and Substances (2001), where it appeared as plate 33 of the accompanying catalog by Sandy Kita.
Cherry Blossom Viewing Party (Hanami no en) (花見の宴) was created by Toyohara Kunichika (豊原国周) in 1862.
Cherry Blossom Viewing Party (Hanami no en) depicts spring.
