Judging from her garments and hairstyle, this woman, posed alone against a blank background, is probably the daughter or young wife of a wealthy merchant family. The black kimono nicely offsets the white obi decorated with spring flower motifs. The cuffs and hems of the undergarment add elements of visual frisson in an otherwise elegant and subdued painting.
Katsukawa Shunshō is perhaps better known for his prints of Kabuki actors, which he started producing in about 1765; he and his pupils dominated this area of print production for a generation. Later in his career he achieved renown for his meticulously rendered paintings of beauties. The use of a distinctive handwritten seal (kaō) allows the painting to be dated to the mid to late 1780s.
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Medium:Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk
Dimensions:Image: 33 1/2 × 11 1/4 in. (85.1 × 28.6 cm) Overall with mounting: 67 11/16 × 15 7/8 in. (172 × 40.4 cm) Overall with knobs: 67 11/16 × 17 13/16 in. (172 × 45.2 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015
Object Number:2015.300.139
This pensive woman, her head tilted slightly and her left hand tuked into her obi, is dressed in kimonos of subdued gray and black decorated with delicate designs of white spring flowers. The red cuffs and hems of her undergarment provide the only bright spots of color in an otherwise restrained composition. Mature and understated, the woman—most likely the wife of a merchant—seems the antithesis of the younger, more ebullient courtesans who usually inhabit pictures of the pleasure district.
The painting bears the signature of Katsukawa Shunshō (1726–1792), followed by the artist's kaō, or handwritten seal, a practice that was popular among contemporary novelists and ukiyo-e artists. Shunshō is known today primarily for his dramatic prints of actors, which he began making about 1765.[1] Other than the fact that he studied painting with Kō Sūkoku (1730–1804) and Miyagawa Shunsui (fl. 1744–64), little is known about his life before that time. Shunshō is also remembered as the printmaking teacher of Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), one of the great artists of this genre.
His other pupils were Shunkō (1743–1812) and Shunchō (fl. late 18th century), who inherited the school name "Katsukawa." Shunshō's oeuvre is clearly divided into two categories: prints of actors and paintings of women, the latter which he began producing quite late in life, about 1780. Shunshō seems to have used his personal seal exclusively on his paintings. Because very few of his paintings are dated by inscription, the handwritten seals have been useful in establishing a chronological framework.[2] About 1783, Shunshō began adding an upward stroke (as seen here) to his kaō, a flourish he used until about 1789, when he abandoned the kaō altogether in favor of carved seals. About the same time, he also changed the style of his signature, modeling it after the manner of the renowned Heian poet Fujiwara Teika (1162–1241),[3] whose calligraphic style had an impact not only in the area of high art but also on the more prosaic level of Edo shop signs.[4] These changes in Shunshō's seal and signature coincided with the evolution of his paintings of women. The figures in his earlier portrayals tend to be somewhat squat; those in his later works, such as the woman in this painting, are more slender and more refined.
All factors considered, this painting can be dated to the period between 1783 and 1789.
[Miyeko Murase 2000, Bridge of Dreams]
[1] On the paintings and prints of Shunshō, see Hayashi Yoshikazu 1963; Gotō Shigeki 1974; and Narazaki Muneshige 1982. [2] Naitō Masato 1989, pp. 57–81. [3] Tanaka Tatsuya 1984, nos. 16, 17. [4] Gotoh Museum 1987.
Signature: Katsu Shunsho ga
Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation , New York (until 2015; donated to MMA)
Orlando. Loch Haven Art Center. "Urban Beauties and Rural Charms," January 8, 1980–February 10, 1980.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Japanese Art from The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," March 30–June 25, 2000.
New York. Asia Society. "Designed for Pleasure: The World of Edo Japan in Prints and Paintings, 1680–1860," February 27, 2008–May 4, 2008.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Celebrating the Arts of Japan: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," October 20, 2015–May 14, 2017.
Meech, Julia, and Jane Oliver, eds. Designed for Pleasure: The World of Edo Japan in Prints and Paintings, 1680–1860. Exh. cat. Seattle: Asia Society and Japanese Art Society of America in association with, 2008, p. 21, fig. 7.
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. 228, cat. no. 274.
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