It’s that time of day when the summer sun has passed overhead and it is now angling down to the horizon. A woman seeks respite on the banks of the Sumida River. “Tokyo people like me who were born with Edo blood in our veins, just can’t give up our nostalgia for the Sumida River,” wrote the artist, Kaburaki Kiyokata. Perhaps by painting the Sumida River he was attempting to convey that nostalgia? The painting was made around 1932 (early Showa Era), but the woman’s hair is worn in an Edo Period (1603–1868) style. The pattern on her yukata, consisting of short-lived morning glory flowers, is also a symbol of transience. Maybe Kiyokata was trying to immortalize those things that are fleeting—like days past, the midsummer heat and youth.
(HIBINO Miyon)
It’s that time of day when the summer sun has passed overhead and it is now angling down to the horizon. A woman seeks respite on the banks of the Sumida River. “Tokyo people like me who were born with Edo blood in our veins, just can’t give up our nostalgia for the Sumida River,” wrote the artist, Kaburaki Kiyokata. Perhaps by painting the Sumida River he was attempting to convey that nostalgia? The painting was made around 1932 (early Showa Era), but the woman’s hair is worn in an Edo Period (1603–1868) style. The pattern on her yukata, consisting of short-lived morning glory flowers, is also a symbol of transience. Maybe Kiyokata was trying to immortalize those things that are fleeting—like days past, the midsummer heat and youth.
(HIBINO Miyon)