Woman Relaxing after Her Bath
Original title: Woman Relaxing after Her Bath
kurzbeschreibung
Kitagawa Utamaro dedicated this print from the 1790s to a woman resting after her bath. It is a colour woodblock print, made with ink and colour on paper. The figure in Japanese dress sits absorbed in herself, with no connection to the viewer.
Description
Her black hair is elaborately styled and adorned with pins and flowers. Her eyelids are lowered, and her face wears a quiet, thoughtful expression. A delicate linear pattern runs across her robe; black, white and beige define the restrained palette. Almost the entire background remains empty, so nothing distracts from the figure. In the lower right are characters and a seal that give information about the artist and the date of production.
Context
Utamaro is one of the defining masters of ukiyo-e in late eighteenth-century Japan. He became famous for pictures of women, including courtesans and beauties from the pleasure quarters. Such woodblock prints were part of everyday culture in Edo, present-day Tokyo, and circulated in large editions. Showing a woman in an informal, private pose was a common motif of the period.
Impact
The print conveys a quiet, intimate mood, as if capturing a moment of pause. Clear contours and the sparing use of colour give the image a graphic, elegant note. Because her eyes are closed, the woman seems entirely self-possessed and undisturbed.
Technique
The design was cut into a woodblock and then transferred to paper with colour. Precise lines and closed areas of colour characterise the ukiyo-e process, in which a separate block was used for each colour. The pigments sit opaquely on the paper and appear strong and even as a result of the printing process.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)