Lisa Milroy RA, Together (after Kitagawa Utamaro: left sheet of the triptych woodblock print 'Hari-shigoto', c.1794-5), 1 June 2020.
Oil on canvas. 322 mm x 241 mm. © The Artist. © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London.
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Together (after Kitagawa Utamaro: left sheet of the triptych woodblock print 'Hari-shigoto', c.1794-5), 1 June 2020
Lisa Milroy RA (b. 1959)
RA Collection: Art
Lisa Milroy’s painting is based on the left sheet of the triptych Ukiyo-e woodblock print Hari-shigoto, c. 1794-95, by the celebrated Japanese printmaker Kitagawa Utamaro. A young woman is depicted folding a length of gauze, with her needle case to her left, and a young child playing beside her, reaching across her lap to pick up a fan.
The original triptych shows several women working together in a shared space on needlework. Milroy’s version separates out the figures from the left of the composition, chiming with the social- distancing rules that were in place in the UK on 1 June 2020, when the population was prohibited from mixing with members of other households. It also reflects the experience of many parents during the pandemic, combining working-from-home with family and childcare responsibilities. Fabric, textiles and everyday objects are recurrent motifs in Milroy’s practice.
Related Image:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hari- shigoto_%28Needlework%29_by_Kitagawa_Utamaro, _Tokyo_National_Museum.jpg
This work was produced for the Varnishing Day Portfolio: A Moment in Time project. With the onset of the global pandemic in Spring 2020, and for the first time in the history of the Royal Academy, the Summer Exhibition was postponed.The portfolio represents the first time that the community of Royal Academicians has collaborated on one piece of work as the project intended to document what this group of artists and architects were doing, thinking and making on 1 June 2020 (traditionally the annual RA celebration of 'Varnishing Day', the day when Royal Academicians traditionally celebrate the start of the Summer Exhibition and put the finishing touches to their works). The finished publication can be seen here https://shop.royalacademy.org.uk/varnishing-day-portfolio
Object details
322 mm x 241 mm
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