Summer Kimono (Hito-e) with Waves and Waterdrops

1920s–30s

Not on view

Waves were a major theme in Japanese painting and prints and the subject of the archipelago’s most iconic artwork, The Great Wave, by Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849). The playful design on this unlined gauze- or leno-weave summer kimono modernizes that print’s turbulent waters by depicting only the foaming swells and splashing blue droplets. The weaving technique creates an airy fabric with fine stripes of openwork.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

白絹レノ地波水玉模様単衣
Title: Summer Kimono (Hito-e) with Waves and Waterdrops
Period: Taishō (1912–26) or Shōwa period (1926–89)
Date: 1920s–30s
Culture: Japan
Medium: Printed gauze-weave (ro) silk
Dimensions: 57 3/8 × 47 in. (145.7 × 119.4 cm)
Classification: Costumes
Credit Line: Gift of John C. Weber, 2023
Object Number: 2023.70.3
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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