1830
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Fourth Print from A Low Tide Pentaptych is a 1830 by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This print shows people kneeling on wet sand at low tide. Some hold lanterns. Others pick up shells or crabs. In the background, the water’s edge glows under a light sky. These prints were private gifts, meant for wealthy poetry lovers. Each sheet had two poems written across the top. The group picked April for this scene since tides were best then. Look up Utagawa Kuniyoshi (Japanese, 1797–1861).
This is one of five surimono , privately commissioned prints, making up an image of people collecting sea life at low tide. Ten witty poems, written by members of a poetry circle, appear across the upper part of the composition, with two poems on each print. Based in Edo (now Tokyo), the group was led by Hisakataya Misora (active 1810s–30s), who wrote four of the poems. This composition may have been printed in April, which was considered the best time for beachcombing.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Kuniyoshi grew up in old Tokyo when the city was still called Edo. His dad ran a silk shop, but Kuniyoshi loved anything with pictures—scrolls, screens, comic books. He talked his way into the Utagawa school, a kind of…
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