The Artistry and Reunion of Two Surimono Albums

May 23 - October 4, 2026
Museum Galleries
Two-paneled illustration of figures in patterned robes, one threads a needle while another peers into a box, framed by clouds and curtains.
Yashima Gakutei, A Woman with a Box and A Woman with Spools, 1820s. Gift of George Pierce Metcalf 56.039.35–.36.

The Artistry and Reunion of Two Surimono Albums explores the stories within two special albums of privately commissioned Japanese woodblock prints that were compiled in Japan the 1820s to 1830s. The surimono in these albums are sumptuous examples of woodblock printmaking accompanied by playful poems, offering us a window into Japan’s art and literary scene of the time. The RISD Museum owns the prints from one surimono album that was unbound, now a group of 88 separate works. Its companion album, still intact, is currently in the collection of the Chiba City Museum of Art in Japan. This exhibition reunites these two albums after almost a century, highlighting the unique cultural and artistic contexts in which these prints were commissioned, created, and shared.

Curated by Wai Yee Chiong, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Curator of East Asian Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and former curator of Asian art, RISD Museum.

The Artistry and Reunion of Two Surimono Albums is sponsored by Bank of America. The exhibition is also supported by a grant from E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation.

RISD Museum is supported by a grant from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, through an appropriation by the Rhode Island General Assembly and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and with the generous partnership of the Rhode Island School of Design, its Board of Trustees, and Museum Governors.

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