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A mosquito-net tent has been set up over tatami mats spread
with summer quilts. A courtesan turns to glance backwards as she
enters. She is wearing a kimono of cool summer colours patterned
with boughs of wisteria. The design uses yûzen dyeing
techiques and tie-dyed knots enriched with gold embroidery, all of
which have been skilfully differentiated by the artist. The gold
roundels are built up in three-dimensional swirls of gesso covered
in gold paint. The courtesan's fan (uchiwa) has a design
of seasonal vine leaves.The compositions of Kaigetsudô Ando's
paintings of beautiful women were more inventive than those of his
pupils who normally adopted the standing figure pose. Here Ando uses
a delicacy of line which gives a gracefulness to the ample figure,
as she raises the net with a slender hand. She is framed by the arching
shape of the opening in the mosquito-net, while the thick skein of
her hair is echoed in the curving folds of netting on the floor.The
signature reads: 'Nihon giga Kaigetsudô Ando kore [o] zu
[su]' ('Light-hearted painting in Japanese style, this picture was
done by Kaigetsudô Ando').
Arthur Morrison Collection - Gift of Sir W. Gwynne-Evans, Bt.
Further Reading/Sources:
JA JP 1387 (1913.5-1.0348) Department of Japanese Antiquities
(study collection)
T. Clark, Ukiyo-e paintings in the British Museum (London,
The British Museum Press, 1992), p. 72, no. 21
M. Narasaki (ed.), Hizô Ukiyo-e
taikan, vol. 1 (Tokyo,
Kôdansha, 1987), no. 92 (commentary by Kobayashi Tadashi)
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