Dinner and Love on the River 1840

Editor: Here we have "Dinner and Love on the River" by Keisai Eisen, from around 1840. It looks to be created using watercolor and textile; it seems like quite an intimate and playful scene. What strikes you most when you look at this work? Curator: Ah, Eisen! I see here not just a representation of an amorous encounter, but a tender glimpse into the floating world. These private moments, stolen amidst the flow of life – isn’t it funny how pleasure often involves small snacks? Are they hiding from the judgement of the shore? Editor: Hiding, or maybe just enjoying a moment of privacy. What does this tell us about Ukiyo-e as a genre? It is such a different experience from how intimacy and eroticism are represented in other painting traditions! Curator: Ukiyo-e often served as a mirror – or perhaps a dreamcatcher – for desires bubbling beneath the surface. And in this, Ukiyo-e offered glimpses of pleasure without moral baggage or allegorical preaching. Perhaps these beautiful people on this little boat had simply cast off society. Did you notice the repeating pattern on the fabric? Editor: The fabric is quite mesmerizing. What do you notice about the composition? Curator: The confinement of the boat amplifies the lovers' shared intimacy. I also cannot help but be a bit bothered by that one flipflop pointing straight into the void. Perhaps they had quite the party before collapsing there. Does the light inside the boat tell you something about this piece? Editor: You’ve given me so much to think about - between the colors, composition, narrative implications. It offers an invitation to imagine ourselves in the painting's space and imagine what happened there! Curator: And isn’t that the sweetest magic? Eisen shares not just a picture, but a shared reverie… a ripple in the pond.