Goyo completed only 14 woodblock print designs before his death in 1921, making every genuine impression extraordinarily rare. His bijin-ga are among the most refined of the entire shin-hanga movement. "Woman at the Bath" achieved $40,075 at Bonhams New York in 2020; Sotheby's estimates of $15,000–$25,000 are typical for top examples.
A woman taking a catnap — a rare moment of unconscious repose in Goyo's work, which more typically captures women in states of active self-attention. The sleeping or resting figure offered particular compositional opportunities: the relaxed body loses the performed quality of waking posture, and Goyo was alert to what unconsciousness revealed about his subjects. The composition requires the viewer to become briefly an intruder on unguarded privacy, a relationship to the female subject that Goyo handled with consistent delicacy.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Woman taking a catnap was created by Hashiguchi Goyo (橋口五葉) in description.
Woman taking a catnap was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (description).
Woman taking a catnap depicts figures, bijin-ga, and animals.
