An unprecedented exhibition of shunga, or “spring pictures” – sexually explicit Japanese prints from the Edo period (1603-1868) – will be staged by Sotheby’s in Hong Kong from July 18-31. Shunga came to be regarded as taboo in the late 18th century because of the influence of Western ethics. Academic interest has revived in the West and there has been exhibitions on the subject in Europe and the US. The British Museum will stage a three month exhibition entitled Shunga: Sex and Pleasure in Japanese Art, 1600-1900 from October 3 next. The Sotheby’s exhibition shows more than 60 prints and albums of shunga from the private collection of Uragami Mitsuru.
Suzuki Harunobu (ca. 1725 – 1770) Pipe (Detail) Circa 1770
Woodblock colour print
Kitagawa Utamaro (1753 – 1806) Dew on the Chrysanthemum (Detail) 1786 Woodblock colour print; print books
Keisai Eisen (1790 – 1848) Passion in the Snows of Spring, Copy of Kaseikyu (Detail) 1822
Illustrated book, folding album