Kiyomizu Komachi, from the series Futabagusa nana Komachi
Kitagawa Utamaro Japanese
In this print a woman plays mekakushi, blindman’s buff, with two children. She observes the pair through a screen equipped with a sliding paper door. It frames her image to create a picture within a picture that resembles the Japanese portraits of beautiful women known as bijin-e. Admired women were sometimes called Komachi, as in the title, after an ancient poet celebrated for both her literary prowess and her physical beauty. The screen also accentuates the separation between the children, absorbed in the excitement of the game itself, and the woman observing them
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