勝川春章筆　立姿美人図|Woman in a Black Kimono

Katsukawa Shunshō 勝川春章

1783–89 · Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk · Asian Art

Judging from her garments and hairstyle, this woman, posed alone against a blank background, is probably the daughter or young wife of a wealthy merchant family. The black kimono nicely offsets the white obi decorated with spring flower motifs. The cuffs and hems of the undergarment add elements of visual frisson in an otherwise elegant and subdued painting. Katsukawa Shunshō is perhaps better known for his prints of Kabuki actors, which he started producing in about 1765; he and his pupils dominated this area of print production for a generation. Later in his career he achieved renown for his meticulously rendered paintings of beauties. The use of a distinctive handwritten seal (kaō) allows the painting to be dated to the mid to late 1780s.

Artist

Katsukawa Shunshō 勝川春章

Date

1783–89

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

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