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The Sand-Carrying Festival (Sunamochi Matsuri)

Sakai Basai

1856

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Impressionism Realism Ukiyo-e Early 19th Century Genre Scene

Dominant colour

The Sand-Carrying Festival (Sunamochi Matsuri) is a 1856 unspecified by Sakai Basai, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Sakai Basai
When & what style?: 1856 · Impressionism
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

This painting shows people working together to dredge a waterway. The scene is interesting because it's not just about the labor, but also about the festival and parade that came with it. The painting gives us a glimpse into what life was like in Japan during the Edo period. You can learn more about this style by looking at the work of artist Sakai Basai.

The story of this work

Overview

Dredging waterways to preserve their function once required the cooperation of large numbers of people, seen at the top of this painting. Sand-carrying festivals were historically associated with religious rites or gathering alms to construct places of worship, and involved not only the labor of collecting sand from rivers but also parades and performances marking the event. Kyoto’s Kamo River has been dredged many times over the centuries, including in 1856, the year this image was made. Although the title at the upper right says Taihei Kakan, or “Peaceful, Beautiful View,” the painter’s…

Read the full account in the museum source.