Young Woman Holding Flowers
c. 1730
Medium
Hand-colored woodblock print; hosoban, urushi-e
Dimensions
32.4 × 15.1 cm (12 3/4 × 5 15/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
36228
Art Historical Context
**Young Woman Holding Flowers** by Okumura Toshobu, created around 1730, captures the graceful elegance of an Edo-period beauty in a compact woodblock print. Toshinobu, a skilled Japanese printmaker active during the early 18th century, in depictions of fashionable women, reflecting the vibrant ukiyo-e tradition—"pictures of the floating world"—that celebrated everyday pleasures and transient beauty in urban Japan. This hosoban-format print, measuring just 32.4 × 15.1 cm, is a hand-colored woodblock known as *urushi-e*, or lacquer print. The narrow hosoban shape was ideal for affordable, port...
About the Artist
Okumura Toshinobu · 1690–1770
active ca. 1717–1750