Untitled

Kitagawa Utamaro

ca. 1801–4 · Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk · Asian Art

Utamaro, the well-known ukiyo-e painter and printmaker, was a disciple of the Kano artist Toriyama Sekien (1712–1788). In this work, a well-dressed girl from a wealthy merchant family is contrasted with a seated woman wearing a simple cotton kimono that is open at the breast. In the Chinese-style couplet inscribed at the upper left by Ubu Kanjin, two butterflies stand in for the two beauties: It is strange how a pair of butterflies Come fluttering towards me, fly away, then return. Perhaps they wish to enter through my gauze window. It is as if a spring breeze is forcing open the window And filling the room with the spirit of spring.

Artist

Kitagawa Utamaro

Date

ca. 1801–4

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Charles Stewart Smith Collection, Gift of Mrs. Charles Stewart Smith, Charles Stewart Smith Jr., and Howard Caswell Smith, in memory of Charles Stewart Smith, 1914