The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 9, 2023

The Courtesan Takigawa of Ogiya (from the series Seven Aspects of Komachi in the Green Houses)

1797 or 1798

Kitagawa Utamaro 喜多川 歌麿

(Japanese, c. 1754–1806)

Japan, Edo period

(1615-1868)

Color woodblock print

Sheet: 38.9 x 25.5 cm (15 5/16 x 10 1/16 in.)

The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith 1985.361

Location

not on view

Description

Takigawa, one of the most famous Yoshiwara courtesans at the Ogiya brothel, is shown here after her bath. Comparing this print with the other portrait of Takigawa by Utamaro (see Woman Drying Her Hands [1930.219]) illustrates how pose, gesture, and clothing can suggest different moods for the same individual.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Signature: shomei Utamaro hitsu

Inscription

Publisher: Sensa

Inscription

Collector's Seal: Vever

Provenance
?-1942
Henri Vever [1854–1942], France
March 24, 1977
(Sotheby Parke Bernet, London, UK, March 24, 1977, part III, lot 159)
1977-?
(R. E. Lewis, Inc., California, 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
Citations
Sotheby's London. Highly Important Japanese Prints, Illustrated Books and Drawings and Paintings, from the Henri Vever Collection: Part III. March 24, 1977. Reproduced: pp. 84-85, lot no. 159
Sotheby's London. Highly Important Japanese Prints, Illustrated Books and Drawings and Paintings, from the Henri Vever Collection: Part III. March 24, 1977. Reproduced: pp. 84-85, lot no. 159
Exhibition history

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).

Visions of Japan: Prints and Paintings from Cleveland Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 12, 2004-April 10, 2005).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1985.361