No Series Lady In Heian Court Litho

This oban woodblock print by Chigusa Kotani depicts a lady of the Heian court, reaching back nearly a thousand years to Japan's classical golden age for its subject matter. The Heian period (794-1185) produced the Tale of Genji, the Pillow Book, and a court culture of extraordinary aesthetic refinement. Kotani renders the noblewoman in the layered juni-hitoe robes that Heian court ladies wore, each visible layer signaling taste and seasonal awareness through its color. The title notes this is a lithograph, suggesting that while the image follows woodblock print conventions, the actual printing technology may have been lithographic. Heian court subjects allowed shin-hanga artists to celebrate an idealized Japanese past while demonstrating their command of decorative detail in costume and setting.