Irises: beauty arranging hair, from an untitled series of beauties and flowers
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Dimensions
38.5 × 25.8 cm (15 1/8 × 10 1/8 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
58554
Art Historical Context
In the vibrant world of Edo-period Japan, Utagawa Toyokuni I (1769–1825) captures fleeting beauty in his 1812 color woodblock print, *Irises: beauty arranging hair*, from an untitled series pairing elegant women with flowers. Thisan-sized work (38.5 × 25.8 cm) a graceful bijin—or beautiful woman—arranging her hair amid blooming irises, embodying the ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") that celebrated everyday pleasures, fashion, and nature during Japan's Tokugawa era (1603–1868). Toyokuni I, a founding master of the influential Utagawa school, excelled in bijin-ga, prints idealizing fe...
About the Artist
Utagawa Toyokuni I · 1777–1835
Japanese, 1777–1835