Young Man, Young Woman, and a Boy Pass in Front of Santo Kyoden's Smoking Shop

ca. 1800

Japanese, 1754 - 1806

Santo Kyoden (1761-1816), a famous writer, artist, and arbiter of popular taste, operated a tobacco shop to finance his enormous expenses in the entertainment district. Smoking played an important role in floating world culture. Many prints depict courtesans or their clients leaning desultorily on an elbow and leisurely inhaling a long, thin pipe.

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

15 1/4 x 10 in. (38.7 x 25.4 cm)

Gift of Mary and Allan Kollar

2017.23.1

Provenance: [Sebastian Izzard, New York]; purchased from gallery by Allan Kollar, Seattle, Washington, 2009; to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 2017

Photo: Colleen Kollar Zorn

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Fleeting Beauty: Japanese Woodblock Prints, Apr. 1 - July 4, 2010. Cat. no. 28, reproduced p. 51.

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