Lady Hotoke Dancing
19th century
Medium
Part of an album of woodblock prints (surimono); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
8 3/8 x 7 3/8 in. (21.3 x 18.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture
Japan
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
Accession Number
JP2324
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Lady Hotoke Dancing** is a delicate woodblock print by Yashima Gakutei, a prominent 19th-century Japanese artist for his refined ukiyo-e style. as part of a surimono album—urious, privately commissioned prints often shared among poetry circles—this intimate work measures just 8 3/8 x 7 3/8 inches, showcasing Gakutei's mastery in capturing beauty on a small scale. Rendered in ink and vibrant colors on paper, depicts a graceful woman, likely Lady Hotoke, mid-dance with a fan, evoking the elegance of Edo-period courtesans or performers. Surimono like this one were cultural treasures of Japan's...
About the Artist
Yashima Gakutei · 1786–1868
Yashima Gakutei (c. 1786–1868), born in Osaka as the illegitimate son of a Tokugawa shogunate samurai named Hirata, adopted the name from his mother's subsequent marriage into the Yashima clan. Little is documented about his early years beyond these familial ties, but he pursued artistic training under the esteemed ukiyo-e masters Totoya Hokkei and Katsushika Hokusai, absorbing their precision in ...