Viewing Cherry Blossoms at Gotenyama

About the Artwork

A scene of cherry blossom viewing at Gotenyama (Palace Hill) in the city of Edo (now Tokyo), features five adults and a child at the top of the hill. At the center of the action, a courtesan lights her pipe from that of a fashionably dressed young man of samurai status, and smoke billows up to the sky.

Inscriptions

signed: 歌川豊国画 (Utagawa Toyokuni ga), painted by Utagawa Toyokuni; sealed: 一陽斎(Ichiyōsai)

Provenance

A. Kelvin Smith [1899–1984] and Eleanor [Armstrong] Smith [1899–1998], Cleveland, OH, by descent to their daughter Cara Smith Stirn Cara Smith Stirn [1927–2017], Cleveland, OH, by descent to her daughter Ellen Stirn Mavec Ellen Stirn Mavec [b. 1959]

Quick Overview

Artist: Utagawa Toyokuni (Japanese, 1769–1825)
Date: late 1700s–early 1800s
Medium: Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk
Dimensions: Painting: 56.6 x 87.7 cm (22 5/16 x 34 1/2 in.); Mounted: 159.4 x 89.9 cm (62 3/4 x 35 3/8 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: Japanese Art
Credit line: The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Ellen and Bruce Mavec
Accession no.: 2026.46

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.