Floating Beauty:
Women in the Art of Ukiyo-e
September 21, 2024- Jan. 12, 2025

Washington County Museum of Fine Art’s newest exhibition, Floating Beauty:Women in the Art of Ukiyo-e, celebrates Japanese culture and women.

The exhibition will be on view from Sept. 21, 2024. to Jan 12, 2025.

The enduring appeal and vibrant charm of Japanese woodblock prints are on full display in this exhibition of over 50 prints and select items of decorative art that illuminate the lives of women during the Edo period (1603-1868). Japanese prints have long been prized by collectors and artists for their beauty, graphic appeal, and insight into what is known as Ukiyo, or “the floating world.” This exhibition features significant artists and works,

including Hokusai’s The Great Wave off the Coast of Kanagawa, that provide a visual journey to Edo period Japan while specifically illuminating the lives and conditions of women.

During the Edo period, the arts flourished. By 1800, Edo (now Tokyo) was a bustling city of over a million people. Although prosperous, it was a highly structured and repressive society, which gave birth to an alternate world—a world of escape into pleasure known as the “floating world.”

The floating world included the pleasure districts (Yoshiwara) where the wealthy merchant class escaped the rigidity of the shogunate and enjoyed themselves—Kabuki theater, courtesans, and a burgeoning market for colorful prints were all part of this world. The images of actors, beauties, garden parties, landscapes, amorous pursuits, sightseeing trips, and everyday life have become known as ukiyo-e—pictures of the Floating World.

While admired and often idealized for their beauty, women following traditional expectations in this rigidly conservative society were expected to adhere to strict social codes, obey their husbands, leave their families and transfer their loyalties to their in-laws, and remain industrious. Through images, extracts from period texts, and stories from literature and folktales, Floating Beauty invites us into a world where, particularly for women, transitory pleasures contrasted sharply with everyday realities.

This exhibition highlights female characters in literature, kabuki theater, and poetry; the courtesans and geisha of the Yoshiwara district; and wives and mothers from different social classes performing the duties of their station to gain insight into women’s lives in pre-modern Japan.

In the tradition of ukiyo-e, women are most commonly represented in bijinga (“pictures of beautiful women”). These prints feature beautifully depicted courtesans with elaborate hairstyles, heavy makeup, and highly decorative clothing. These beauties were considered the ‘ideal woman,’ and aside from their physical radiance, they were passive, attentive, and well-trained in entertaining their male companions.

Looking beyond the bijinga, this exhibition shows that women in Edo society were hard-working and industrious. Society scorned idleness in women of all ages, and even high-ranking females were required to perform many tasks. Women were expected to be subservient but not weak; weakness could not run a demanding household or manage business affairs.

Life was even harsher for those outside of a traditional household role, such as the courtesans and geisha of the Yoshiwara. Similarly, female literary characters were well-defined and robust but often did not fare well, eventually falling victim to the devices of men.

The exhibition includes works by ukiyo-e masters Suzuki Harunobu, Kitagawa Utamaro, Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Kunisada, Kikugawa Eizan, and Utagawa Hiroshige.

Organized and drawn from the collection of the Reading (PA) Public Museum. The Hagerstown presentation has been made possible through the generous support of Robert & Marjorie Hobbs.

A special opening reception will be Thursday, Sept. 19, 6 to 8 p.m. at the museum. Celebrate the beauty of Japanese ukiyo-e masters for the opening of this exhibition. The cost is $15 for museum members and $25 for the general public. Register in advance by calling Donna Rastelli at 301-739-5727 or drastelli@wcmfa.org.

Community Day

Friday, Oct. 4, 5 to 7:30 p.m. Floating Beauty After Dark. Inspired by our exhibition Floating Beauty: Women in the Art of Ukiyo-e, this family-friendly event celebrates Japanese woodblocks through art, creativity, and nature. Highlights are a hands-on activity that involves designing a family lantern, and transforming paper into origami. At 7:20 p.m., the lanterns will be released on City Park Lake. Free admission.