Bedroom Scene 1729 - 1749

Curator: This print strikes me immediately by the complex layering of planes and the somewhat unsettlingly straightforward presentation of intimacy. Editor: Indeed. Here we have “Bedroom Scene,” a woodblock print from sometime between 1729 and 1749, by Okumura Masanobu. The work currently resides here at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As you observed, the use of spatial depth is interesting. Curator: The lines of the floorboards create this almost dizzying perspective, and the artist’s choice to place the figures on an elevated plane also gives the scene an uncomfortable directness. Notice too the texture of the robes – it creates movement, almost vibration in its patterning, while the bare skin is simplified, smoothed out. The semiotic interplay here is quite striking. Editor: That's insightful. The woodblock tradition allowed for a proliferation of images within Japanese society; this image participates within a history of erotic art that challenges societal constraints and provides glimpses into pleasure during the Edo period. These depictions offer a glimpse of the diverse social practices during that time, as such images played diverse cultural roles. Curator: It also encourages viewers to consider the construction of the gaze itself. Note the specific rendering of the bodies. How is it inviting, or resisting, a voyeuristic reading of intimacy? What message does the visible textual narrative convey when combined with the overall scene? Editor: Well, considering the context, such works were not merely about titillation; they also functioned as educational tools. It offers us, today, access to performative intimacy and its public representations during the period. Curator: I find the way the flat perspective somewhat de-eroticizes the work despite the subject matter. Is the narrative itself also being flattened into a statement? I think there are ways this work almost begs that particular interpretation. Editor: Yes, seeing through a historical lens reveals the multiple social roles these images served, from offering intimate glimpses into past lives, to subtly challenging the conservative mores of the time through its imagery of openness. Curator: A beautiful combination of artistry and history working together here, I think. Editor: Indeed, and perhaps now our listeners will share our perspectives.