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Standing Courtesan
Sakai Hōitsu Japanese
Not on view
While still in his twenties, before he began devoting his energies to the study and veneration of Ogata Kōrin (1658–1716) and other Rinpa artists, Hōitsu painted beautiful women in the style of Utagawa Toyoharu (1735–1814). Hōitsu’s early interest in ukiyo-e painting may have been related to his own heavy involvement in the nightlife of the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter, and he produced paintings of courtesans whom he had met. One of these women was Hanaōgi, the most famous and sought after courtesan of her day. Here Hōitsu has painted her standing in a classic ukiyo-e pose, her obi tied voluminously before her and her kimono billowing around her feet, its edge embroidered with her cherry blossom crest.
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