Untitled

Kitagawa Utamaro

ca. 1794–95 · Woodblock print; ink and color on paper · Asian Art

In this playful picture, a young boy points at his mother’s open legs. The dark green lacquered obi attracts the eye and directs it to the oddly placed still life in the foreground. The green fruit, the child’s raised leg and suggestive gesture, and the mother’s sleepy gaze hint that the artist may have intended an erotic reading or perhaps a metaphor for childbirth.

Artist

Kitagawa Utamaro

Date

ca. 1794–95

Medium

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Henry L. Phillips Collection; Bequest of Henry L. Phillips, 1939