柳下美人図|Courtesan and her Attendants under a Willow Tree
Medium
Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk
Dimensions
36 1/2 x 13 3/8 in. (92.7 x 34 cm) Overall with mounting: 72 13/16 × 18 7/8 in. (185 × 48 cm) Overall with knobs: 72 13/16 × 20 5/8 in. (185 × 52.4 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015
Accession Number
2015.300.141
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of Edo-period with *Courtesan and her Attendants a Willow Tree* (柳下美人図), a captivating 1796 hanging scroll created the collaborative talents of Unchō, Kyokutei Bakin, and Santō Kyōden. Painted in ink, color, and on silk, this ½ × 13⅜-inch work (92.7 × 34 cm) exemplifies bijin-ga, or "pictures of beautiful women," a popular genre that celebrated feminine grace and elegance. The luxurious medium of silk with gold flecks evokes the opulence of the era's urban pleasure districts, designed for intimate display in a tokonoma alcove. Set against the flowing branches of a ...
About the Artist
Unchō 雲潮|Kyokutei Bakin 曲亭馬琴|Santō Kyōden 山東京伝 (Japanese| |Japanese) · 1740 |1767 |1761 –1820 |1848 |1816
Japanese, active late 18th century|1767–1848|Japanese, 1761–1816