Sunset at Ryōgoku Bridge

1806–20

Sunset at Ryōgoku Bridge, 1806–20. Katsukawa Shunkō II (Shunsen) (Japanese, c. 1762-c. 1821). Woodblock print; ink and color on paper; sheet: 22.3 x 17.2 cm (8 3/4 x 6 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Mrs. Madeleine Hamill in memory of Lawrence Hamill 1949.134 A view of boats and riverside stalls near the Ryōgoku Bridge is captured in a roundel. The scene is accompanied by a poem. Much faded today, traces of the colors used to indicate the last rays of the sun remain. The artist signed the print “design by Shunsen” (Shunsen ga), a name he used from New Year’s of 1806, after he became a student of Katsukawa Shun’ei (1762-1819). Around the year 1820, he took the name Shunkō II. He designed prints of beauties, actors, and landscapes. In his final years, he painted designs on ceramics.