Drama And Desire: Japanese Paintings At Boston Museum

With the establishment of Edo (modern-day Tokyo) as the major political and commercial center of Japan in the 17th century, a new type of imagery was developed, known as ukiyo-e. Masters of the genre explored the daily activities of the city's inhabitants and detailed the stylish preoccupations of the "Floating World," the theaters and the brothels of the area.

While many of these artists, such as Harunobu, Utamaro, and Hokusai, are well-known in the West for their woodblock prints, it was in the medium of painting that they actually received their major commissions.

Recently, the MFA's curatorial staff collaborated with a team of leading Japanese scholars in recataloging the institution's holdings of more than 700 ukiyo-e paintings, one of the finest collections in the world. Drama and Desire marks the first exhibition highlighting the Museum's holdings of these works. This show will be accompanied by a catalogue published by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

The picture shows Woman Looking at Herself in a Mirror, about 1805, the author is Katsushika Hokusai.

The exhibition runs from August 28 to December 16, 2007 at Torf Gallery. -- www.mfa.org