Artwork

Haze on a Clear Day at Stone Bridge (From the series Eight Elegant Views of Chanted Accompanimnets for Kabuki Plays)

Haze on a Clear Day at Stone Bridge (From the series Eight Elegant Views of Chanted Accompanimnets for Kabuki Plays), by Kikukawa Eizan, 1814
Haze on a Clear Day at Stone Bridge (From the series Eight Elegant Views of Chanted Accompanimnets for Kabuki Plays), by Kikukawa Eizan, 1814

Haze on a Clear Day at Stone Bridge (From the series Eight Elegant Views of Chanted Accompanimnets for Kabuki Plays) is a print by the Romanticist artist Kikukawa Eizan. It dates from 1814 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

About this work

Overview

Created around 1814 by the ukiyo‑e artist Kikukawa Eizan, this multicolored woodblock print belongs to the series titled Eight Elegant Views of Chanted Accompaniments for Kabuki Plays. The work depicts a domestic interior scene rendered in vivid black, gold and green pigments, and is part of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s collection.

Subject & Meaning

Two women kneel on a low mat, their backs turned toward the viewer. One holds a folding fan, the other a scroll, while a small tray bearing cups rests nearby. Their hair is styled in the fashionable upswept coiffure of the period, suggesting a refined, possibly ceremonial setting within a private household.

Technique & Style

The image exemplifies early nineteenth‑century Japanese woodblock printing, employing multiple carved blocks to achieve bright, flat areas of color and fine line work. Eizan’s use of a limited palette—dominant black, gold and green—creates contrast against a pale background, while decorative elements such as the patterned robe and blossoming fan demonstrate the era’s attention to detail.

History & Provenance

The print was produced as part of a series intended to accompany kabuki performances, linking visual art with theatrical music. After circulating in Japan, it entered the Western art market in the early twentieth century and was eventually acquired by the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it remains on view as a representative example of Edo‑period ukiyo‑e.

Artist & collection

Portrait of Kikukawa Eizan

Artist

Kikukawa Eizan

Kikukawa Eizan was a designer of ukiyo-e style Japanese woodblock prints. He first studied with his father, Eiji, a minor painter of the Kanō school, and subsequently with Suzuki Nanrei (1775–1844), of the Shijō…

This work is in the public domain (CC0). Image source: Cleveland Museum of Art open access. Spotted an error in this record? Tell us.