The Courtesan Hitomoto of the Daimonjiya, from the album "Comparing New Beauties of the Yoshiwara - A Mirror of Their Own Writings (Keisei shin bijin awase jikihitsu kagami)"
1784
Medium
Color woodblock print; right sheet of double-page illustration from book
Dimensions
37 × 25 cm (14 9/16 × 9 13/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
22467
Art Historical Context
Welcome to the Art Institute of Chicago's Arts Asia collection, where we encounter *The Courtesan Hitom of the Daimonji*, a vibrant color woodblock print by Kitao Masanobu 1784. This sheet of a double-page illustration hails from the album * New Beauties of thewara - A Mirror of Own Writings*, a celebrated Edo-period publication that ranked and portrayed the era's most renowned courtesans from Yoshiwara, Tokyo's famed pleasure district. Masanobu, a master of ukiyo-e—the "pictures of the floating world"—captures Hitomoto with elegant poise, her luxurious kimono and refined features embodying th...