歌撰恋之部　夜毎に逢恋|A Young Woman Reading A Letter

Kitagawa Utamaro

1790s · Woodblock print; ink and color on paper · Asian Art

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.

Artist

Kitagawa Utamaro

Date

1790s

Medium

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1914