Bowdoin College Museum of Art | - Picture of a Street in Gion, Kyoto

Preview image of work. color woodcut on paper, Picture of a Street in Gion, Kyoto 23841

2013.1.3

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Picture of a Street in Gion, Kyoto

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Artist

Kan Kawada (1924 - 1999)

Title

Picture of a Street in Gion, Kyoto

Creation Date

1976

Century

late 20th century

Dimensions

15 1/8 in. x 23 5/8 in. (38.42 cm x 60.01 cm)

Object Type

Creation Place

Asia, Japan

Medium and Support

color woodcut on paper

Credit Line

Gift of Susan and James Carter

Copyright

This artwork may be under copyright. For further information, please consult the Museum’s Copyright Terms and Conditions.

Accession Number

2013.1.3

In Kyoto's Gion neighborhood, a famous geisha district, the traditions of late-Edo period nightlife live on. Kawada uses two-point perspective to accentuate the length of the Gion's ancient winding streets lined with countless wooden merchant homes in the traditional machiya style. Kawada's striking red sky and the shuttered storefronts portray a scene bathed in the first warm rays of dawn or the fading light of dusk. Kawada, who graduated from the prestigious Ochanomizu Bunka Gakuin Art Institute in Tokyo, is notable for using stencils. A master stencil, colored black, provides structure while additional stencils add colors (in this case, natural pigments). As in Kawada’s other works, a light “dusting” of ink adds texture to the road, and multiple shades of black ink create shadows on black architectural features. The prominent power lines compete with a Buddhist pagoda, spoiling the impression of a neighborhood completely untouched by the passage of time.