Miyagawa Chôshun
Japanese, 1683-1753
A Beauty Behind a Screen
INV-1510
Miyagawa Chôshun
Japanese, 1683-1753About 1750
A Beauty Behind a Screen
Miyagawa Chôshun Japanese, 1683-1753 →Japanese (culture or style)hanging scrollpainting
Date
About 1750
Medium
Hanging scroll; ink and colors on silk
Dimensions
30.4 × 37.1 cm (12 × 14 5/8 in.), including mount and knobs: 127.6 × 56.2 cm (50 1/4 × 22 1/8 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Avery Brundage, Frederick and Nathalie Gookin, Samuel M. Nickerson and Louise Lutz Endowments
This young courtesan lounges in the summer heat, opening her robe at the neck to get some relief. She reclines next to a folding screen with an image of a cherry tree in bloom. Set conveniently nearby are a shamisen—a Japanese traditional instrument—and a songbook. Courtesans were often trained to play as part of their repertoire of entertainments.
Also notable
Works in the same vein
Komurasaki of the Miuraya and Shirai Gompachi (Miuraya Komurasaki, Shirai Gompachi)
Kitagawa Utamaro 喜多川 歌麿 Japanese, c.1753-1806
Hamamatsu, from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)," also known as the Tokaido with Poem (Kyoka iri Tokaido)
Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重 Japanese, 1797-1858
Mitsuke: Ferries Crossing the Tenryu River (Mitsuke, Tenryugawa funawatashi), from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)," also known as the Tokaido with Poem (Kyoka iri Tokaido)
Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重 Japanese, 1797-1858
