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Maker(s):Yamaguchi Akira
Culture:Japanese (1969- )
Title:Trick Riding: Holding on for Eternities: (reimagined work for Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III)’s Artisans, from the series “Industriousness of the People in an Age of Blessings,” 1843–1847, 2005.1131, and Utagawa Kunisada II’s Tarakichi Hayatake from Osaka, 1857, 2005.1010)
Date Made:2016
Type:Drawing
Materials:Japanese ink and watercolor on paper
Measurements:sight: 15 x 10.75"
Accession Number:  AC 2017.25
Credit Line:Purchase with Wise Fund for Fine Arts
Museum Collection:  Mead Art Museum at Amherst College
2017_25.jpg

Label Text:
As artworks designed for low-brow popular appeal, ukiyo-e were often filled with ribald and humorous puns, which could often be quite lascivious. In this dynamic design, Yamaguchi employs both text and rebus-like understandings of the original figures to similar effect. For example, in the original Japanese title, Yamaguchi has inverted two of the characters, changing the meaning from “eternities” (literally, “1000 autumns”) to “swing,” a reference to the acrobatic display. Similarly, the phrase “trick riding” has sexual connotations, indicating that the actor who portrays a cowherd in the lowest panel and the weaver at top are waiting — or “holding on for eternities” — until their sexual liaison. Perhaps confounded by the challenge of linking these two disparate designs, Yamaguchi has signed his name using a homophone for “complaint” and “giving up.”

Tags:
weaving; flowers; fans; women; men; balances; humor

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+2017.25

Research on objects in the collections, including provenance, is ongoing and may be incomplete. If you have additional information or would like to learn more about a particular object, please email fc-museums-web@fivecolleges.edu.

2 Related Media Items

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2 Related Objects

2005_1010.jpg
AC 2005.1010
Utagawa Kunisada II
Portrait of Tarakichi Hayatake of Osaka
1857
2005_1131.jpg
AC 2005.1131
Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III)
"Artisans", from the series “Industriousness of the People in an Age of Blessings" incomplete
1843-1847
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