The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 24, 2025

Courtesan

1716–35

Matsuno Chikanobu

(Japanese, active 1716–35)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Overall: 179.1 x 58.5 cm (70 1/2 x 23 1/16 in.); Overall: 177.8 x 52.7 cm (70 x 20 3/4 in.); Painting only: 91 x 35.5 cm (35 13/16 x 14 in.); Painting only: 91.8 x 39.6 cm (36 1/8 x 15 9/16 in.)
The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith 1985.249
Location: Not on view

Description

A glamorous courtesan sports an outer robe decorated with large roundels featuring plant motifs including iris and bush clover. Little is known about the life and artistic training of the painter Matsuno Chikanobu, an ukiyo-e artist who painted in a style strongly reminiscent of that of the Kaigetsudō studio. Many of his known paintings are on silk, and executed with high quality pigments, indicating that his primary clientele were wealthy individuals.
  • (Kozo Yabumoto, Hyogo, Japan, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Kelvin Smith)
    ?–1985
    The Kelvin Smith Collection, Cleveland, OH, given by Mrs. Kelvin [Eleanor Armstrong] Smith [1899–1998] to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1985–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • “Checklist of the Kelvin Smith Bequest.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 75, no. 7 (September 1988): 292–295. Mentioned: p. 294
  • Later Japanese Rotation (Gallery 113). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 18-July 13, 2004).
    A Private World: Japanese and Chinese Art from the Kelvin Smith Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 14-November 13, 1988).
  • {{cite web|title=Courtesan|url=false|author=Matsuno Chikanobu|year=1716–35|access-date=24 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1985.249