Ochre Editions
SearchSign inCart (0)

The Floating World

Japanese woodblock prints of the floating world: actors, courtesans, landscapes and the sea.

172 works · hang 4004 ·

The rooms are imagined; every work on their walls is real.

Walk this roomRehang this room

Section 1, north wall

  1. A work made of color woodblock print; surimono.
    A Pine Tree and CamelliasNiwa Tokei, 1840Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. A work made of color woodblock print, oban triptych.
    Sei Shonagon, from the series Ancient Patterns (Kodai moyo)Kobayashi Kiyochika, Meiji period (1896–1912), 1896Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 1, south wall

  1. A View of the Large New Room at Sakurai, by Utagawa Kunisada, early or mid 1830s
    A View of the Large New Room at SakuraiUtagawa Kunisada, early or mid 1830sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. A work made of color woodblock print; oban.
    The Ninth Month, from the series Five Amorous Festivals of Love (Aibore iro no gosekku)Kitagawa Utamaro, 1801Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. A work made of hand-colored woodblock print; toku-oban, urushi-e.
    Courtesan Reading a LetterIshikawa Toyonobu, c. 1745Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 2, south wall

  1. Courtesans at Leisure from the series The Six Immortal Poets, by Katsukawa Shunzan, early 1780s
    Courtesans at Leisure from the series The Six Immortal PoetsKatsukawa Shunzan, early 1780sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. View of Futami Beach at Ise, by Shōtei Hokuju, ca. 1810–1820
    View of Futami Beach at IseShōtei Hokuju, ca. 1810–1820Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. Print showing a string of travelers with horses walking along a narrow hillside path beneath an enormous craggy beige mountain at left and an equally massive and craggy deep-blue mountain at right. A brown snow-covered peak appears between these mountains. A mass of cream-colored clouds and a river with rounded ripples fill the middle plane of the composition.
    The Back of Mount Fuji Seen from Minobu River (Minobugawa Urafuji), from the series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)Katsushika Hokusai, 1830-33Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 2, north wall

  1. Kinryūsan Temple at Asakusa, from the series "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo", by Utagawa Hiroshige, 1856
    Kinryūsan Temple at Asakusa, from the series "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo"Utagawa Hiroshige, 1856Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. A work made of color woodblock print; oban.
    The Plum Orchard at Kamata (Kamata no umezono), from the series "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)"Utagawa Hiroshige, 1857Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. The Actor Onoye Matsusuke as a Ronin, by Tōshūsai Sharaku
    The Actor Onoye Matsusuke as a RoninTōshūsai SharakuCourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Section 3, north wall

  1. Foreigners in the Drawing Room of Foreign Merchant's House in Yokohama, by Utagawa (Gountei) Sadahide, 9th month, 1861
    Foreigners in the Drawing Room of Foreign Merchant's House in YokohamaUtagawa (Gountei) Sadahide, 9th month, 1861Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. The Shika Teahouse, by Utagawa Toyokuni, early 1790s
    The Shika TeahouseUtagawa Toyokuni, early 1790sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Section 3, south wall

  1. A work made of color woodblock print.
    Procession of Russian Marching Band, from the Album of seven prints of Russian Army and Warship (Roshia seigi shashin kan), 1853Keiga, 1853Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. A work made of color woodblock print; chuban.
    The Dance of the Shrine Maidens Ohatsu and OnamiSuzuki Harunobu, c. 1769Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. A work made of hand-colored woodblock print; tan-e, vertical o-oban.
    Courtesan WalkingKaigetsudo Anchi, c. 1714Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago