A Young Woman Reading A Letter

1790s
Not on view
In this print, from a series portraying women in different phases of romance, Utamaro captures a young woman at the moment she stops to comtemplate a letter. She extends her hands from her robe to hold this letter from her lover that perhaps suggests their next meeting. She lifts her head, opens her mouth slightly, and looks into the distance. The large-head portrait format effectively captures her complex emotion, agony perhaps.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 歌撰恋之部 夜毎に逢恋
  • Title: A Young Woman Reading A Letter
  • Artist: Kitagawa Utamaro (Japanese, ca. 1754–1806)
  • Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
  • Date: 1790s
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
  • Dimensions: 14 1/2 x 10 1/8 in. (36.8 x 25.7 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1914
  • Object Number: JP147
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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