Two Women (ca. 1790)
Original title: Two Women
kurzbeschreibung
Unlike many female portraits from the same years, this colour woodblock print by Kitagawa Utamaro, made around 1790, places two women together as a closely paired couple rather than in isolated poses. Both wear traditional Japanese garments and each holds a fan.
Description
The nearer figure appears in a red and white kimono with a floral pattern, a fan in her hand. Facing her stands a woman in a green and blue patterned kimono, also with a fan. Both look downward, their hair done up and ornamented with pins. The ground stays plain, and Chinese characters appear at the left. Tones are muted, and the woodblock technique remains plainly visible.
Context
Utamaro made this sheet during the Edo period, a time of cultural flourishing in Japan. He became famous for pictures of women, among them courtesans and beauties of the pleasure quarters. By about 1790 the Japanese colour woodblock had reached a high level of technical and artistic accomplishment. This work belongs to a series of portraits of women that secured his reputation as a master of bijin-ga.
Impact
The composed, inward-turned bearing of the two figures lends the sheet a quiet, intimate mood. Muted tones and crisp contours produce a harmonious, almost meditative impression.
Technique
The work was executed as a woodblock print in ink and colour on paper. The process of the Japanese colour woodblock (nishiki-e) allowed fine colour transitions and precise outlines. Several passes with different colour blocks were needed for printing.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)