Ito Shinsui
Japanese, 1898-1972
Before the Mirror
INV-4819
Ito Shinsui
Japanese, 1898-1972July 1916
Before the Mirror
Ito Shinsui Japanese, 1898-1972 →Japanese (culture or style)woodblock printprint
Date
July 1916
Medium
Color woodblock print
Dimensions
44.2 × 29.3 cm (17 1/2 × 11 1/2 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Bequest of Henry C. Schwab
This young geisha has been caught in a private moment, absorbed in checking her hairstyle in front of a mirror. The volume of her figure and the depth of the image were intended to appeal to international audiences that preferred such realism. The print is inscribed with the word shihitsu (trial drawing), marking this work as the first collaboration between Itô Shinsui and the publisher Watanabe Shôzaburô, who had spotted the artist’s painting of this image and approached him as a partner.
The printer Ono Gintarô used the edge of his round, flat baren (a disk-shaped tool) to create swirling lines throughout the background. The rich red color that dominates this composition was achieved with natural dyes rather than the chemical-based aniline dyes favored in earlier prints from the Meiji period (1868–1912).
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
