“Hanamurasaki of the Tamaya,” from the series Seven Komachi of the Pleasure Quarters (Seirō Nana Komachi)
Kitagawa Utamaro Japanese
Not on view
Utamaro’s portrait of Hanamurasaki, a top-class courtesan (oiran) of the Tamaya, shows her in elegant public attire with an elaborately decorated hair arrangement. She sits coyly, her hands crossed in front of her while she holds a brush in her lips, a pose that suggests she is aware of the audience watching her as she writes a secret letter.
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