Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art

About this Work

In his prints Chikanaobu addressed issues of conemporary life from the Sino-Japanese war to changing fashions. In this print, Singing by the Plum Garden, Chikanobu captures the Japan on the cusp of Westernization. The subject of the print is a evening's entertaiiment: Empress Shōken, her son, and her attending ladies enjoy a concert. The Western and modern elements are obvious—the piano, western dress, chairs, and architecture—but what is less obvious is the new idea of producing an image of the royal family, something previously forbidden. the tradional aspects of Japanese life are found in the setting and the pastime of plum blossom viewing, and activilty that has deep roots in the Japanese past.