川又常正筆 「夕顔」『源氏物語』|"Evening Faces" chapter from The Tale of Genji (Genji monogatari)

Kawamata Tsunemasa

18th century · Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper · Asian Art

In Chapter Four of the narrative Prince Genji visits his old nurse. A young woman in the house next door sends her servant to Genji’s attendant, with the gift of a fan on which a yūgao (“evening faces”) flower has been placed. Genji and the lady embark upon a love affair that ends with her death, when she is possessed by the spirit of the jealous Lady Rokujō, another of Genji’s lovers. This painting bears the signature and seal of Tsunemasa, a painter of ukiyo-e who specialized in pictures of beauties and also themes derived from literature. In his rendition of the “Yūgao” scene, he has dressed his figures in Edo-period garb rather than the multilayered robes of the Heian-period aristocracy. The tall beauty with the tortoiseshell hair comb may represent Yūgao rather than her attendant, and the smaller woman stands in for Genji’s manservant.

Artist

Kawamata Tsunemasa

Date

18th century

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015