Three Women Enjoying Literary Pursuits 1785 - 1789

Curator: This is Katsukawa Shuncho’s “Three Women Enjoying Literary Pursuits,” made sometime between 1785 and 1789. It's a color woodblock print, part of the Ukiyo-e movement, which is often translated as 'pictures of the floating world'. Editor: My first thought is just how peaceful this scene feels. The women seem so comfortable and lost in their books, totally unselfconscious. I find that incredibly charming, really. Curator: There is such tranquility here, and each figure possesses their own distinct character. Note how Shuncho carefully crafts not just the likenesses, but also their placement within a space designed to foster such leisure. You have one woman standing, one kneeling while writing, and another, laying down to read... All suggesting unique intellectual access. Editor: It’s also about leisure, not just literary pursuits, isn’t it? I mean, think about the labor involved in producing the materials – the paper, the ink, the woodblocks themselves! All of it reflects a society with a certain degree of surplus and a sophisticated printing and distribution network. These are not just women of letters, they’re women of means. Curator: Absolutely, there is an economic element present too, not hidden away at all. To me, the material realities also hint at an escape from the everyday. And there's a wistfulness, like a fleeting dream caught on paper... Almost the artist himself yearning to participate, rather than observe. I see a certain freedom within its confines. Editor: Precisely! But freedom built on a complex web of artisanal skills, resource extraction, and distribution channels, all working together so these women can live within their space. Without all that work we would only see women and the ground they are laying on. Curator: Maybe Shuncho, through this lovely print, reminds us that every moment of tranquility rests on labor and our shared desires, like a stage production. What we consume makes all the difference in the play of being alive. Editor: Well said. A lovely confluence of material conditions and the artist’s ability to evoke, through mere lines and colors, the beauty of quiet concentration.