花魁図|Parading Courtesan

Momokawa Shikō

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

A magnificently attired woman adjusts one of the hairpins keeping in place her double-bunned hyōgo-mage hairstyle. The array of hair ornaments and the elaborate layers of her richly colored robes declare her to be an oiran, or a highly ranked courtesan of the Yoshiwara pleasure quarters. The inscription by the artist quotes the Rinzai Zen monk Takuan Sōhō (1573–1645), weaving in famous Zen sayings: Buddha tried to sell religious law; Our founding patriarch [Bodhidharma] tried to sell the Buddha; We, monks of the Final Age of the Law, try to sell our founding patriarch. And you sell your five-foot-tall body to allay the passions of mankind. “Form is none other than emptiness; emptiness is none other than form” “Willows are green, and flowers crimson”

Artist

Momokawa Shikō

Date

late 18th century

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Fishbein-Bender Collection, Gift of T. Richard Fishbein and Estelle P. Bender, in celebration of the Museum’s 150th Anniversary, 2020