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Your galleryKisegawa of the Matsubaya
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Look at the hand raised to her chin, the round fan painted with morning glories, and the long pins that fan out from her hair.
Kisegawa was a courtesan of the Matsubaya, the Pine Needle House in the Yoshiwara, and Utamaro portrayed her in several series; the Art Institute holds at least three of these prints. In this one of about 1795 to 1796, from Comparing the Charms of Five Beauties, she is seen close up, her hair spread wide with combs and long pins. A round inset at the top holds a small picture of a pipe, arrows and a stream.
Color woodblock print; oban · 38.4 × 25.2 cm · Art Institute of Chicago
Read more at the Art Institute of Chicago
Sources
- Art Institute of Chicago: Kisegawa of the Matsubaya, from the series "Comparing the Charms of Five Beauties (Gonin bijin aikyo kurabe)"
- Art Institute of Chicago: The Courtesan Yoso-oi of the Pine Needle House in the Yoshiwara and Her Attendant (Matsubaya Yoso-oi)
- Art Institute of Chicago: The Courtesan Kisegawa of the Matsubaya, from an untitled series of courtesans of the Matsubaya as five musicians
- Art Institute of Chicago: Kisegawa of the Matsubaya, [whose attendants are] Sasano, Takeno (Matsubaya uchi Kisegawa, Sasano, Takeno), from the series “Seven Komachi of Yoshiwara” ("Seiro nana Komachi")
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Details and source
- Museum title
- Kisegawa of the Matsubaya, from the series "Comparing the Charms of Five Beauties (Gonin bijin aikyo kurabe)"
- Artist
- Kitagawa Utamaro 喜多川 歌麿 Japanese, c.1753-1806
- Date
- c. 1795/96
- Medium
- Color woodblock print; oban
- Dimensions
- 38.4 × 25.2 cm (15 1/8 × 9 15/16 in.)
- Credit line
- Clarence Buckingham Collection
- Image license
- CC0 1.0 · Public domain
- Museum record
- Art Institute of Chicago
Ukiyo-e c. 1600–1900
View in the AtlasGaller’s rooms and hanging scale are imagined. The image is the museum’s original digital reproduction.