A courtesan, statuesque and regal in pose, has paused her procession to glance back, perhaps to acknowledge an admirer. Kaigetsudō Ando was the founder of a studio of artists that produced woodblock prints and paintings of the high-ranking women of the demimonde. Here a poem card (shikishi) is inscribed with a poem attributed to Sarumaru Dayu (active late 8th century) that was made famous through its inclusion in One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets (Hyakunin isshu):
Oku yama ni momiji fumi-wake naku shika no koe kiku toki zo aki wa kanashiki
Deep in the mountains, traipsing through leaves, a deer cries for its mate— when I hear that sound, it’s autumn at its saddest. —Trans. John T. Carpenter
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懐月堂安度筆 立姿遊女図
Title:Standing Courtesan
Artist:Kaigetsudō Ando (Japanese, ca. 1671–1743)
Period:Edo period (1615–1868)
Date:early 18th century
Culture:Japan
Medium:Hanging scroll, mounted as panel; ink and color on paper
Dimensions:Image: 40 15/16 × 16 5/8 in. (104 × 42.2 cm) Overall with mounting: 44 7/8 × 20 1/2 in. (114 × 52 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015
Accession Number:2015.300.118
The imposing figure of a courtesan here fills the picture plane, her body arched in an S-curve as she lifts the hem of her kimono and glances over her shoulder, showing her costume and her full, white face to best advantage. The painting has the quality of a fashion plate, and its appeal is frankly sensuous.
The colophon at the upper right corner, brushed by an anonymous calligrapher on a shikishi (poem sheet), is a familiar classical poem attributed to Sarumaru Dayū, a monk of the Early Heian period and one of the Thirty-six Immortal Poets (see cat. nos. 39–41). The poem is included in the Kokinshū and other anthologies.
Okuyama ni momiji fumiwake naku shika no koe kiku toki zu aki wa kanashiki
Treading through the autumn leaves in the deepest mountains, I hear the belling of the lonely deer— then it is that autumn is sad.[1]
The scroll bears the signature "Nihon giga Kaigetsudō" (Playfully Painted by Japan's Kaigetsudō). Because the numerous paintings and woodblock prints with this signature usually include an additional name or seal as well, "Kaigetsudō" is believed to have been a studio name. Tall, majestic women were the favorite subject of this studio, and all Kaigetsudō courtesans are remarkably similar. A woman is shown standing alone adjusting her hair or looking back over her shoulder. The faces are stereotypes, seldom revealing individuality or emotion. The costumes reflect popular fashions in textile designs and are strongly outlined in rhythmic curves that set off the large, clearly defined patterns and lively color contrasts. The basic costume design—the position of the sleeves, the shape of the obi, and the flare of the lower hem—is often repeated in many works, varied only by different textile patterns. Such paintings were mass-produced, and the same shop would make cheaper woodcut versions of them in monochrome.
Various signatures and seals on the paintings and prints differentiate six Kaigetsudō artists: Ando, Anchi, Dohan, Doshin (cat. no. 147), Doshu, and Doshū. Ando is generally credited with founding the studio. This painting includes, in addition to the "Kaigetsudō" signature, a seal reading "Ando" and another seal frequently found with it, which can be deciphered as "Kan'unshi." Ando's successors made woodblock prints of these women, but no print is associated with Ando himself.
Kaigetsudō Ando is known to have used another name, "Kaigetsudō Jōsen," and to have sold his pictures to visitors to the Yoshiwara pleasure district in Edo.[2] His real name was Okazaki (or Okazawa) Genshichi, and he was acquainted with the inner circle of women who served members of the Tokugawa shogunate. Implicated in a scandal involving a love affair between one of the women and a Kabuki actor—a serious criminal offense—he was ordered into exile in 1714. Paintings by Ando found on the remote islands south of Tokyo indicate that he was sent either to Niijima or to Ōshima. He remained there until 1722.[3] It is generally assumed that this incident ended Ando's painting career and that his shop was continued by his pupils, who signed their names "Kaigetsudō matsuyō" (the last leaf of Kaigetsudō).
The few paintings by Ando that survive suggest that he was trained in a fairly orthodox school. A handscroll in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, exhibits his familiarity with the Kano style and an interest in nanga (see pages 373–74), which was then emerging as new painting style.[4] Ando's images of solitary courtesans mark the height of a style of figure painting that began in the early seventeenth century and would subsequently be refined by Hishikawa Moronobu (ca. 1618–1694).
[Miyeko Murase 2000, Bridge of Dreams]
[1] Kokinshū 1984, poem 215, identified as the work of an anonymous poet. [2] Narazaki Muneshige 1987, p. 42; and Asano Shuga 1994, p. 24. [3] Tsuji Nobuo, Kobayashi Tadashi, and Kōno Motoali 1968, p. 46. [4] Narazaki Muneshige 1969, pls. 28, 29.
Signature: Nihon giga Kaigetsudo
Inscription: Okuyama ni momiji / fumiwake naku shika no / koe kiku toki zo / aki wa kanashiki (Treading through autumn leaves in the deepest mountians, I hear the belling of the lonely deer--then it is that autumn is sad. Signature (below): Nihon giga Kaigetsudo
Marking: Seals: Kan'unshi; Ando
Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation , New York (until 2015; donated to MMA)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Japanese Art: Selections from the Mary and Jackson Burke Collection," November 7, 1975–January 4, 1976.
Seattle Art Museum. "Japanese Art: Selections from the Mary and Jackson Burke Collection," March 10–May 1, 1977.
Minneapolis Institute of Arts. "Japanese Art: Selections from the Mary and Jackson Burke Collection," June 1–July 17, 1977.
Tokyo National Museum. "Nihon bijutsu meihin ten: nyūyōku bāku korekushon," May 21, 1985–June 30, 1985.
Nagoya City Art Museum. "Nihon bijutsu meihin ten: nyūyōku bāku korekushon," August 17, 1985–September 23, 1985.
Atami. MOA Museum of Art. "Nihon bijutsu meihin ten: nyūyōku bāku korekushon," September 29, 1985–October 27, 1985.
Hamamatsu City Museum of Art. "Nihon bijutsu meihin ten: nyūyōku bāku korekushon," November 12, 1985–December 1, 1985.
New York. Asia Society. "Art of Japan: Selections from the Burke Collection, pts. I and II," October 2, 1986–February 22, 1987.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Japanese Art from The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," March 30–June 25, 2000.
Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu. "Enduring Legacy of Japanese Art: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," July 5, 2005–August 19, 2005.
Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum. "Enduring Legacy of Japanese Art: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," October 4, 2005–December 11, 2005.
Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. "Enduring Legacy of Japanese Art: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," January 24, 2006–March 5, 2006.
Miho Museum. "Enduring Legacy of Japanese Art: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," March 15, 2006–June 11, 2006.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Celebrating the Arts of Japan: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," October 20, 2015–May 14, 2017.
Tsuji Nobuo 辻惟雄, Mary Griggs Burke, Nihon Keizai Shinbunsha 日本経済新聞社, and Gifu-ken Bijutsukan 岐阜県美術館. Nyūyōku Bāku korekushon-ten: Nihon no bi sanzennen no kagayaki ニューヨーク・バーク・コレクション展 : 日本の美三千年の輝き(Enduring legacy of Japanese art: The Mary Griggs Burke collection). Exh. cat. [Tokyo]: Nihon Keizai Shinbunsha, 2005, cat. no. 82.
Murase, Miyeko, Il Kim, Shi-yee Liu, Gratia Williams Nakahashi, Stephanie Wada, Soyoung Lee, and David Sensabaugh. Art Through a Lifetime: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection. Vol. 1, Japanese Paintings, Printed Works, Calligraphy. [New York]: Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, [2013], p. 214, cat. no. 247.
Carpenter, John T. The Poetry of Nature: Edo Paintings from the Fishbein-Bender Collection. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018, p. 180, fig. 52.
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