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

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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In the same medium

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Armor (<i>Gusoku</i>), Saotome Ietada Japanese, Iron, lacquer, silk, gilt copper, Japanese — Armor (*Gusoku*)
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Night Rain at the Double-Shelf Stand, from the series Eight Parlor Views (Zashiki hakkei), Suzuki Harunobu Japanese, Woodblock print (first edition); ink and colors on paper, medium-sized print (chuban), Japan — Night Rain at the Double-Shelf Stand, from the series Eight Parlor Views (Zashiki hakkei)
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Women Grating Radish for Sashimi, Kitagawa Utamaro Japanese, Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper, Japan — Women Grating Radish for Sashimi
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ca. 1798–99

Helmet (<i>Zukinnari Kabuto</i>), Iron, lacquer, Japanese — Helmet (*Zukinnari Kabuto*)
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