The Lovers Miura-ya Komurasaki and Shirai Gonpachi.

probably 1797

Not on view

Tragic love stories taken from real life and dramatized were a staple of stage and print; the darkly romantic combination of desire and death was hugely popular in the eighteenth century. Hirai Gompachi was a warrior of the Tottori fief in western Japan who fled to Edo after committing a murder. He was apprehended and sentenced to death in 1679. His distraught lover, the courtesan Komurasaki, committed suicide at his grave.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

実競色乃美名家見　三浦屋小紫　白井権八
Title: The Lovers Miura-ya Komurasaki and Shirai Gonpachi.
Artist: Kitagawa Utamaro (Japanese, ca. 1754–1806)
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: probably 1797
Culture: Japan
Medium: Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions: 15 x 9 15/32 in. (38.1 x 24.1 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1914
Object Number: JP153
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

By Kitagawa Utamaro

In the same medium

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“Preparing Food for the Warbler,” from the album Men’s Stamping Dance (Otoko dōka, uguisu no esa suri)

, Kitagawa Utamaro Japanese, Page from a woodblock printed book; ink and color on paper, Japan — “Preparing Food for the Warbler,” from the album Men’s Stamping Dance (Otoko dōka, uguisu no esa suri)
Kitagawa Utamaro
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The Lady Tomimoto Toyohina Reading a Letter, Kitagawa Utamaro Japanese, Woodblock print; ink and color on paper, Japan — The Lady Tomimoto Toyohina Reading a Letter
Kitagawa Utamaro
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Women Preparing Sashimi, Kitagawa Utamaro Japanese, Woodblock print; ink and color on paper, Japan — Women Preparing Sashimi
Kitagawa Utamaro
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In the Kitchen, Kitagawa Utamaro Japanese, Right-hand sheet of a diptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper, Japan — In the Kitchen
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ca. 1794–95

Girl Fishers and Bathers, Kitagawa Utamaro Japanese, Triptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper, Japan — Girl Fishers and Bathers
Kitagawa Utamaro
1791

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