Graffiti on a Storehouse Wall
Object Label
In the early 1840s, the Japanese government passed laws to limit what it saw as excessive freedom of expression among Japan’s urbanites. The laws banned the overt representation of current events in works of art and theater. Although actor images were still allowed, adding written information about the actor or his current production was forbidden. The artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi poked fun at those restrictions when he released a series of prints that purported to illustrate a wall covered with graffiti but actually contained multiple actor portraits, many accompanied by notes that hinted at the roles they were playing. The artist chose a specific term for the graffiti, nitakaragura, because it incorporates the Japanese phrase nita kara, meaning “don’t they look like?” Apparently the joke was subtle enough, because two different government censors left their seals of approval on the page.
Caption
Utagawa Kuniyoshi Japanese, 1798–1861. Graffiti on a Storehouse Wall, 1847. Color woodblock print on paper, approx.: 10 × 15 in. (25.4 × 38.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of John C. Copoulos, 2016.12. No known copyright restrictions
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Graffiti on a Storehouse Wall
Date
1847
Period
Edo Period
Geography
Place made: Japan
Medium
Color woodblock print on paper
Classification
Dimensions
approx.: 10 × 15 in. (25.4 × 38.1 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of John C. Copoulos
Accession Number
2016.12
Rights
No known copyright restrictions
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