around 1725 -1770 · Nishiki-e, poetry and everyday elegance

Suzuki Harunobu transforms the print with polychrome color: young women, lovers and seasonal scenes become delicate visions where poetry, textiles and gestures respond to each other.

Suzuki Harunobu's biography remains partially obscure. Probably born around 1725, he worked in Edo and appeared as a decisive figure in ukiyo-e in the 1760s. Earlier prints often used a limited number of colors added to black outlines. From 1765, illustrated calendars ordered by circles of scholars stimulated a more complex impression. Thanks to several engraved and perfectly marked plates, Harunobu developed nishiki-e, a "brocade image", capable of multiplying tones, patterns and effects without manual coloring. This technical innovation is accompanied by an immediately recognizable universe. Its young people women are thin, almost adolescent, absorbed in reading a letter, a walk, a domestic job or a romantic encounter. References to classic poems and ancient stories are transposed into contemporary Edo in the form of mitate, a parodic and elegant comparison. Rain, snow, veranda and garden produce an intimate atmosphere; kimono and screen organize the surface like a mosaic of motifs. Harunobu died in 1770 after a brief but extraordinarily fruitful career. Harunobu died in 1770 after a brief but extraordinarily fruitful career. His nishiki-e died in 1770 after a brief but extraordinarily fruitful career. His nishiki-e lastingly transformed the economy and aesthetics of Japanese prints. The "Suzuki Harunobu" selection offers its own journey on this subject. His reading prioritize details.

Harunobu makes color a material of poetry: a kimono, an oblique rain and a letter are enough to tell the story of the wait.