Artwork Page for A Beauty

Details / Information for A Beauty

A Beauty

美人図

early 1800s

Gion Seitoku 祇園 井特

(Japanese, active late 1700s–early 1800s)
Culture
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
Medium
hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Measurements
Overall: 139.7 x 55.8 cm (55 x 21 15/16 in.); Painting only: 56.3 x 43.1 cm (22 3/16 x 16 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith 1985.271
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

The person's lipstick is made from safflower.

Description

A Kyoto-based ukiyo-e painter, Gion Seitoku specialized in portraying women from Gion and Shimabara, licensed brothel districts in that city. He was known for detailing faces with subtle modeling to heighten a sense of realism. During the 1700s and 1800s, wearing iridescent, greenish lip gloss made from safflower was in vogue. In addition, Japanese women almost universally practiced the custom of artificially blackening their teeth with a stain.
A vertical hanging scroll depicts a woman with light skin tone from the chest up, facing left. Her elaborate black hair is adorned with yellow hairpins and a red comb. She has high eyebrows, narrow eyes, and small, dark red lips. Her right hand is raised toward her chest, finger pointing. She wears a black robe over a patterned blue collar with white designs. Vertical Japanese calligraphy and red seals appear on the right.

A Beauty

early 1800s

Gion Seitoku

(Japanese, active late 1700s–early 1800s)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

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