Standing Courtesan
1710s
Medium
Hand-colored woodblock print; o-oban, sumizuri-e
Dimensions
54 × 29.3 cm (21 5/16 × 11 9/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
19189
Art Historical Context
**Standing Courtesan** Okumura Masan, created in the 1710s, captures the elegance of Edo-period Japan's "floating world" (ukiyo-e), where urban pleasures like theater and courtesans reigned supreme. This striking hand-colored woodblock print depicts a poised courtesan in lavish robes, her fan and kimono folds evoking the fashionable Yoshiwara pleasure district in Edo (modern Tokyo). Masanobu a pioneering ukiyo artist, blended realism with stylized beauty, making figures like this one both aspirational and accessible to a growing merchant class audience. Printed in the large o-oban format (54 ...
About the Artist
Okumura Masanobu · 1686–1764
Japanese, 1686–1764