A yujo and two understudies (<em>kamuro</em>)
1711-1785
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Accession Number
F1904.195
Tags
About this artwork
To 1904
Art Historical Context
This elegant painting by Ishikawa Toyonobu portrays a yujo, or courtesan, with her two young kamuro attendants, a common subject in ukiyo-e art of Japan’s Edo period (1615–1868). Toyonobu (1711–1785) specialized in graceful depictions of women from the pleasure districts, capturing the refined beauty and social rituals of the “floating world.” As a kakemono hanging scroll, the work would have been displayed seasonally in a Japanese home or teahouse, inviting quiet contemplation of its delicate lines and poised figures. Ukiyo-e paintings like this one celebrated the vibrancy of urban entertain...