Maple Leaf Viewing

ca. 1769

Suzuki Harunobu was one of the first masters of the full-color print. He specialized in depicting slim, fashionable young people and often added sly literary references. This image shows a trio of people standing in front of a waterfall, which is quite faded but still visible as a backdrop of vertical gray lines. The young man wields a fan decorated with a verse that quotes (roughly) from a classical Chinese poem, “Gazing at the Waterfall of Mount Lushan,” by Li Bai, giving the scene a tinge of irony: whereas the contemplative poem tells of being enthralled by the beauty of nature, the young people depicted ignore such lofty concerns in favor of their flirtations.