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11,255 photos
Serge de Diaghilev (1872-1929),founder of the Ballets Russes dance company.In the background his nurse. Canvas,161 x 116 cm
#33010745

Serge de Diaghilev (1872-1929),founder of the Ballets Russes dance com...

Acacia branch with the sea in the background,1908 Oil on cardboard,48,5 x 69 cm
#33010754

Acacia branch with the sea in the background,1908 Oil on cardboard,48,5 x...

Terror Antiquus,1908 Canvas,250 x 270 cm
#33010759

Terror Antiquus,1908 Canvas,250 x 270 cm

Scenes in a theatre tea-house, handscroll painting, Edo period, 1685. In the background right a blind masseur works on the shoulders of a client attended by a young actor serving sake while another plays the shamisen. Another actor entertains a samurai client in a bedroom area furnished with quilts and a large mosquito-net. JA,JP 1375 (1881.12-101710)
#330110 1

Scenes in a theatre tea-house, handscroll painting, Edo period, 1685. In the bac...

"Courtesans of the Tamaya House" Utagawa Toyoharu (attributed to) Japan, Edo period, late 1770s or early 1780s Daily ritual in the pleasure quarter This rare six-fold screen can be firmly attributed to Utagawa Toyoharu (1735-1814) and is one of the most important surviving Ukiyo-e paintings of its period. A group of high-ranking courtesans are seated on the red carpet in the centre, surrounded by their apprentices (shinzô) arranged in pairs with matching kimonos around the walls. The women are in the harimise, the latticed display room of a brothel in the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter, where they would sit waiting for clients. It appears to be the quiet middle period of the day, and the courtesans are amusing themselves in various ways - smoking, playing the shamisen, dressing a doll. One of the teenage apprentices has dozed off. Among the lacquered accessories depicted in the front, to the right of the smoking set, is a small box decorated with the emblem of a flying crane. According to Keisei Kei, a printed guide to courtesans published by Santô Kyôden in 1788, this was a crest used by Komurasaki, a high-ranking courtesan in the house run by Tamaya Sansaburô. The name of the house appears, albeit playfully half-hidden, on the entrance curtain towards the centre back. 1441 mm x 3146 mm JA JP ADD687 (1982.7-1.02)
#33011014

"Courtesans of the Tamaya House" Utagawa Toyoharu (attributed to) Japan, Edo...

"Courtesans of the Tamaya House" Utagawa Toyoharu (attributed to) Japan, Edo period, late 1770s or early 1780s Daily ritual in the pleasure quarter This rare six-fold screen can be firmly attributed to Utagawa Toyoharu (1735-1814) and is one of the most important surviving Ukiyo-e paintings of its period. A group of high-ranking courtesans are seated on the red carpet in the centre, surrounded by their apprentices (shinzô) arranged in pairs with matching kimonos around the walls. The women are in the harimise, the latticed display room of a brothel in the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter, where they would sit waiting for clients. It appears to be the quiet middle period of the day, and the courtesans are amusing themselves in various ways - smoking, playing the shamisen, dressing a doll. One of the teenage apprentices has dozed off. Among the lacquered accessories depicted in the front, to the right of the smoking set, is a small box decorated with the emblem of a flying crane. According to Keisei Kei, a printed guide to courtesans published by Santô Kyôden in 1788, this was a crest used by Komurasaki, a high-ranking courtesan in the house run by Tamaya Sansaburô. The name of the house appears, albeit playfully half-hidden, on the entrance curtain towards the centre back. 1441 mm x 3146 mm JA JP ADD687 (1982.7-1.02)
#33011015

"Courtesans of the Tamaya House" Utagawa Toyoharu (attributed to) Japan, Edo...

"Rabbits and autumn grasses", Edo period, mid-18th century Twelve rabbits shown in different activities, mainly feeding, but also chasing each other and one climbing amorously onto another's back. This screen was probably one of a pair painted by an artist of the Rimpa school. JA, JP Add88 (1933.9-29.03)
#33011017

"Rabbits and autumn grasses", Edo period, mid-18th century Twelve rabbits shown...

Sugawara no Michizane in Chinese dress, Muromachi period, Japan, late 15th century. Holding a small branch of plum blossom, the badge of a Chinese scholar-gentleman. His Chinese appearance may be a reference to the legend that he studied Zen in China after his death. One of his poems is inscribed at the top of the painting. A cultural figure of the Heian period (794 -1185), he is still widely regarded in Japan as the patron of scholarship. He was a scholar of Chinese and also a politician who rose to be Minister of the Right, one of the highest ranks in the government of the time. After his death in exile there were several disasters in the capital of Kyoto which people believed were caused by his angry spirit. He was therefore raised to the rank of a Shintô deity (renamed Karai Tenjin). In the Muromachi period (1333-1568) there was a revival of interest in kambun (Chinese-style writing) and Michizane's reputation was re-established as the greatest Japanese poet who had written in the Chinese language.Creator: Kitagawa Utamaro JA, JP 1 (1913.5-1.038)
#33011030

Sugawara no Michizane in Chinese dress, Muromachi period, Japan, late 15th centu...

Landscape with mountains, Japan, Muromachi period, 16th century. Set in a mountainous landscape is a building in the Chinese style rising above three other roofs. Two tall pine trees dominate the foreground. The square seal, reading 'Kantei', has been found on a dozen or so paintings, all exhibiting sharp brushwork and economical composition, as seen in the present works. The mountains, cliffs, buildings, and trees here are done using long, thick, 'axe-cut' strokes, with washes fading away to suggest the mist at the base of distant mountains. The records of a temple in Nara mention an order for folding screens from 'Kantei' in the sixth month of 1543, and there is a strong possibility these two works were also originally mounted on screens. One of a pair of hanging scroll paintings. JA, JP 358-9 (1881.12-10.01135-6)
#33011031

Landscape with mountains, Japan, Muromachi period, 16th century. Set in a mounta...

A paper making workshop, Genroku-period, Japan, c1688-c1704. To the right are the boards used for drying the paper and three people involved in this process. Inside the workshop a man leans over a vat to stretch a sheet and to his right the owner breaks off momentarily from his task of cutting to quench his thirst. Finally, a young girl stands packing the finished product. This scene is taken from the second of two scrolls illustrating artisans of various trades. The scrolls depict over fifty two trades in all, including brush-makers, dyers, street entertainers, sword polishers, saké makers, and florists. Most of the scenes are set in workshops with their front wall or screens removed, so that those inside can be seen at work. JA, JP ADD25 (1923.11-14.02.1);JA, JP ADD26 (1923.
#33011034

A paper making workshop, Genroku-period, Japan, c1688-c1704. To the right are th...

'The Great Renunciation', painting on hemp cloth, Korean, Choson dynasty, early 18th century. Although Korea was a strict Confucian state during the Choson dynasty (1392-1910), by the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Buddhism became less oppressed and more popular. According to Buddhist teachings, the future Buddha, Prince Siddhartha Gautama, sees the 'four sights': an old man, a sick man, a corpse and an ascetic, and reaches an understanding about the transience of life, deciding to abandon his comfortable world. Here he is shown escaping from the palace on his white horse during the night. He is accompanied by his groom Chandaka. In the lower left his wife and other women of the palace are portrayed sleeping while at top right, heavenly deities are shown helping Siddhartha fly silently over the palace wall. OA, 1996.10-3.02
#33011059

'The Great Renunciation', painting on hemp cloth, Korean, Choson dynasty, early...

Recording an event, from 'Album of Scenes from Daily Life', late Choson dynasty, 19th century. The central figure in purple robes can be seen writing on a long scroll of parchment. The late Choson period was a period of relative prosperity in Korea. Chin'gyong, or 'true-view' landscape paintings became fashionable among the scholar literati class, and depicted real scenes from the Korean landscape, rather than those copied from Chinese paintings. Scenes of daily life, such as this one, became popular among the growing middle class. Kim Hong-do was one of the most famous painters of these scenes. This album is one of at least two known copies of Hong-do's famous original. The paintings focus on people and their activities, with the background barely illustrated. Scenes incude schoolroom scenes, wrestling OA, 1961.5-13.04
#33011063

Recording an event, from 'Album of Scenes from Daily Life', late Choson dynasty,...