清方の最晩年の習作。
清方は、昭和24年（1949）に、師・水野年方の肖像画《先師の面影》を第5回日展へ出品したのを最後に大展覧会から身を引きました。
以降は「市井の風懐(ふうかい)に遊ぶ」と称して、江戸や明治に想いを馳せた作品や、本作のように身近なものを題材に自由な制作活動をおこないました。

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White Plum Blossoms (1970)
pale color on paper; framed
52.3 x 37.1 cm

This study dates from Kiyokata’s final years.
In 1949, Kiyokata retired from major exhibitions after showing Senshi no Omokage, the portrait of his late teacher Mizuno Toshikata, at the fifth Nitten.
After that, Kiyokata felt free to paint subjects that were close to his heart, such as this one, or works where his imagination lingered on the Edo or Meiji periods, what he referred to as “enjoying myself with picturesque street scenes.”