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 artistic genre explored the daily activities of the city’s inhabitants and detailed the stylish preoccupations of the “Floating World,” the theaters and 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.

Organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, the exhibition went on a three-city tour of Japan in 2006 at the Kobe City Museum, Nagoya/Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and Edo-Tokyo Museum. It then traveled to the Kimbell Art Museum from 2/11/07–4/29/07, and currently is at the Royal Ontario Museum through 8/12/07. The exhibition will open at the MFA in Boston on 8/28/07. Official hotel sponsor is the Millennium Bostonian Hotel. The media sponsor is Classical 99.5 WCRB. This show will be accompanied by a catalogue published by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

The picture shows ‘Detail of Scenes from the Yoshiwara Pleasure Quarter, Hishikawa Moronobu’.

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