Aoi no ue, or Lady Aoi, is a play with a sinister tone based on The Tale of Genji. Lady Aoi was famously haunted by the specter of Lady Rokujō, Genji’s jealous lover. The play is unusual in that, instead of recounting a story of times past, it transports the audience directly into the eleventh century, the time when the plot of The Tale of Genji takes place. It is revealed that Lady Aoi is possessed by the spirit of Lady Rokujō, who torments her. Rokujō’s disguised specter appears to recount her sorrow and talks herself into a frenzied rage. Before our eyes, Rokujō turns into a frightening, yellow-eyed demon—the moment captured by Kōgyo in this print.
Provenance:
To 2003
Robert O. Muller
From 2003
National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution by bequest from Robert O. Muller [1]
Notes:
[1] Accessioned on December 14, 2003. See Acquisition Consideration Form, in object file. From 2003-2023, the object was part of the National Museum of Asian Art’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection and on March 21, 2023, the work was internally transferred to the National Museum of Asian Art Collection.
Collection:
National Museum of Asian Art Collection
Exhibition History:
Staging the Supernatural: Ghosts and the Theater in Japanese Prints (March 23 to October 6, 2024)
