Beauty and Attendant on New Year’s Day, from the series “Pleasures for Beauties on the Five Festival Days" ("Bijin gosetsu no asobi")
c. 1800
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Dimensions
37.3 × 24.4 cm (14 11/16 × 9 5/8 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
37677
Art Historical Context
In the vibrant world of Edo-period Japan (1603–1868), Kitagawa Utamaro (3–1806) captured the elegance of everyday beauty through his masterful ukiyo-e woodblock. This oban-sized color woodblock print, titled *Beauty and Att on New Year’s Day comes from his series “Pleasures for Beauties the Five Festival Days”Bijin gosetsu noobi*), created around 1800. Utamaro, a leading figure in bijin-ga (images of beautiful women), celebrated the "floating world" of pleasure quarters, festivals, and refined femininity, making art accessible to a wide audience via affordable prints. The scene depicts a grac...
About the Artist
Kitagawa Utamaro · 1753–1806
Kitagawa Utamaro (c. 1753-1806) was one of the most celebrated masters of ukiyo-e woodblock printing, revolutionizing the art of bijin-ga (pictures of beautiful women) during Japan's Edo period. Born Kitagawa Ichitaro, his early life remains shrouded in mystery, with conflicting accounts placing his birth in Kyoto, Osaka, Yoshiwara in Edo (modern Tokyo), or Kawagoe in Musashi Province. Under the t...