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Kitagawa Utamaro
Woman Under an Umbrella
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper, 14 1/2 x 9 5.16 in. (36.8 x 23.8 cm)
Purchase, Rogers Fund, 1922 (JP1367)
Women shown in a variety of roles and activities form the chief theme of the woodblock prints of Kitagawa Utamaro, one of the most influential print designers of the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth centuries. Here Utamaro uses his insightful observations of human psychology and physiognomy to portray a beautiful young woman and her maid, who holds a musical instrument case, walking under a large umbrella by lantern light. Woodblock prints depicting the courtesans and kabuki actors combined poetic beauty with frankness and popular appeal favored by the city dwellers of the Edo period.

Photograph Credits