Artwork Page for Three Courtesans with a Client

Details / Information for Three Courtesans with a Client

Three Courtesans with a Client

1700 - 1720

Okumura Masanobu 奥村 政信

(Japanese, 1686–1764)
Culture
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
Medium
color woodblock print
Measurements
Sheet: 26.5 x 37.7 cm (10 7/16 x 14 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith 1985.337
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

This double-page book illustration is called a sumizuri (meaning to print with sumi ink on paper). It may be an adaptation of a picture book by Kiyonobu I titled Keisei ehon, or Illustrated Book of Courtesans, portraying the most glamorous people in the ukiyo-e world. Masanobu had the greatest influence on the development of the ukiyo-e style during the first half of the 1700s. A publisher, print designer, and painter, he initiated new genres of prints such as the "perspective picture" (uki-e).
A horizontally oriented print in black ink depicts two pairs of figures in patterned robes. On the left, a person sits holding a pipe while a woman leans over them from behind. On the right, a woman plays a long-necked instrument over a reclining figure whose robe features a dragon and tiger. Floral crests and Japanese calligraphy float above both groups, and small objects sit on the floor at the bottom left.

Three Courtesans with a Client

1700 - 1720

Okumura Masanobu

(Japanese, 1686–1764)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

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