Woman in Red
late 18th century
Medium
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
27 7/8 x 6 1/2 in. (70.8 x 16.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
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
JP1760
Tags
Art Historical Context
Katsukawa Shunshō *Woman in Red*, a stunning woodblock print from the late 18th, captures the elegance of Edo-period Japan during the vibrant ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world"). As a master of the Katsukawa school, Shunsh was renowned for his bijin-ga—depictions of beautiful women—and actor portraits, blending realism with idealized beauty. This vertical ōban-sized print (27 7/8 x 6 1/2 in.), housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Asian Art Department, showcases a poised woman in a striking red kimono, embodying the fashionable courtesans or urban sophisticates of Edo (modern Tokyo...
About the Artist
Katsukawa Shunshō 勝川春章 (Japanese) · 1726 –1792
Japanese, 1726–1792