The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

The Flirtatious Type, from Ten Types in the Physiognomy of Women

c. 1793

Kitagawa Utamaro

(Japanese, c. 1754–1806)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
color woodblock print
36.9 x 25.4 cm (14 1/2 x 10 in.)
Bequest of Edward L. Whittemore 1930.218
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Only two impressions from this series have pink mica.

Description

Kitagawa Utamaro was well known for his close-up portraits that belonged to a genre, or category, of images called bijinga (pictures of beautiful people). This print is from a series that invites comparisons of the attractiveness of different figures. It comes from a series that assigns personality traits to women based on their physical appearance.
  • ?–September 21, 1917
    Murata Kinbei 村田金兵衛, Kanagawa-ken, Japan
    1917–?
    (Yamanaka & Co.)
    ?–1930
    Edward L. Whittemore, [1862–1930], Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1930–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Hollis, Howard C. “The Edward Loder Whittemore Collection of Japanese Prints.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 17, no. 4 (1930): 64–66. www.jstor.org
    Lee, Sherman E. Japanese Decorative Style. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1961. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 108; cat. no. 117 archive.org
    Lee, Sherman E. A History of Far Eastern Art. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1982. Mentioned and Reproduced: fig. no. 647, p. 488
    Lee, Sherman E. A History of Far Eastern Art. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1964. Mentioned and Reproduced: fig. no. 647, p. 488
    Hane, Mikiso. Japan: A Historical Survey. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1972. Reproduced: p. 206
    Varley, H. Paul. Japanese Culture; a Short History. New York: Praeger, 1973. fig. 51
    Varley, H. Paul. Japanese Culture: A Short History. New York: Praeger, 1977. fig. 51
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 388 archive.org
    Chung, Young Yang. The Art of Oriental Embroidery: History, Aesthetics, and Techniques. New York: Scribner, 1979. Reproduced: p. 153, fig. 8-3
    Varley, H. Paul. Japanese Culture. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2000. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 199–201, fig. 58
  • Highlights of Japanese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 7, 2025-June 14, 2026).
    Visions of Japan: Prints and Paintings from Cleveland Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (December 12, 2004-April 10, 2005).
    Transformations in Japanese Printmaking. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 25-December 30, 1984).
    Ukiyo-e: Floating World. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (June 11-September 2, 1973).
    Japanese Decorative Style. The Cleveland Museum of Art (August 30-October 15, 1961); The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (November 9-December 17, 1961).
  • {{cite web|title=The Flirtatious Type, from Ten Types in the Physiognomy of Women|url=false|author=Kitagawa Utamaro|year=c. 1793|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1930.218