Image: Ōta Memorial Museum of Art, Tokyo
‘Katsushika Ōi’s ‘Yoshiwara at Night’: The Genealogy of Night Scenes’ is scheduled to run from 6 October through 6 December 2026. Ōi’s ‘Yoshiwara at Night’ will be shown publicly for the first time in three years.
Ōi was Hokusai’s daughter and also worked as an artist in her own right. Her ‘Yoshiwara at Night’ depicts the licensed quarter through a pronounced contrast between light and shadow, and is regarded as one of her representative works as well as a masterpiece of ukiyo-e night scenery. Only 10 or so paintings attributed to Ōi have been confirmed worldwide.
The exhibition traces the development of night-scene imagery from the Edo period through the Meiji and Taishō periods, following how night views were represented across those eras. It also introduces night-scene works made for overseas audiences from the late Meiji period onward, a body of work that has previously received little attention.
Hiroshige is known for his command of dark-blue skies made with Prussian blue, while Kiyochika is known for using nuanced shading to depict the cities of the Meiji period at night.
The exhibition is divided into a first period, from 6 October to 3 November, and a second period, from 7 November to 6 December. ‘Yoshiwara at Night’ is listed for display throughout both periods, while all other works are replaced between the first and second periods.
