The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Lady with a Parasol

early 1800s

Koikawa Harumasa

(Japanese)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
hanging scroll; ink, color, gold, and silver pigments on paper
Mounted: 189.4 x 40 cm (74 9/16 x 15 3/4 in.); Painting only: 103 x 27.6 cm (40 9/16 x 10 7/8 in.)
The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith 1985.257
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Spatters of white paint represent falling snow.

Description

This painting depicts a young woman braving the elements as she hurries home from the local bathhouse. The action depicted accentuates her slender neck and bare legs. In later Japanese art, images of beautiful women in bare feet and a towel between their teeth have sensual overtones.
  • (Heisando, Co., Ltd., Tokyo, 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
  • Jenkins, Donald. “Paintings of the Floating World.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 75, no. 7 (September 1988): 244–278. Reproduced: pl. III www.jstor.org
    Meech, Julia. Rain and Snow: The Umbrella in Japanese Art. New York: Japan Society, 1993. Reproduced: cat. no. 37, p. 86
  • Later Japanese Art Rotation (Gallery 113). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (December 4, 2003-March 18, 2004).
    Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).
    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).
    Rain and Snow: The Umbrella in Japanese Art. Japan Society, New York, NY (April 28–June 27, 1993).
  • {{cite web|title=Lady with a Parasol|url=false|author=Koikawa Harumasa|year=early 1800s|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1985.257