Courtesan Going to Bed, from the series "Ten Types of Beauties in Pictures (Jittai e-fuzoku)"
c. 1794
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Dimensions
39.2 × 25.8 cm (15 7/16 × 10 3/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
89275
Art Historical Context
Torii Kiyonaga's *Courtesan Going to Bed*, from the series *Ten Types of Beauties in Pictures (Jittai e-fuzoku)*, captures the elegance of Edo-period Japan around 1794. As a master of ukiyo-e—the "pictures of the floating world"—Kiyonaga specialized in bijin-ga, or images of beautiful women, often drawn from the glamorous Yoshiwara pleasure district. This color woodblock print on oban format (a standard large size of about 39 x 26 cm) depicts a courtesan in an intimate bedtime moment, showcasing the refined allure of these celebrated figures who embodied contemporary ideals of beauty and sophi...
About the Artist
Torii Kiyonaga · 1752–1815
Torii Kiyonaga, born Sekiguchi Shinsuke in 1752 in Uraga, Sagami Province, was the son of an Edo bookseller who owned tenements near a bustling fish market. At age 14 in 1765, he began his apprenticeship under Torii Kiyomitsu, the third-generation head of the prestigious Torii school of ukiyo-e, renowned for kabuki theater illustrations and signage. Adopted into the Torii family, Kiyonaga succeede...