Young Girl (Wakai Onna)
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
- Source:
$500–$4,000. Common subjects: $500–$1,500. Key value factors: Hirano's prints are relatively accessible compared to other bijin-ga specialists. Condition is important.
Titled "Wakai Onna" in Japanese, meaning "young woman," this [oban](/glossary/oban) woodblock print presents a youthful female figure at the threshold between girlhood and womanhood. Hirano Hakuho's portrait captures the particular quality of youth that Japanese [bijin-ga](/glossary/bijin-ga) artists found compelling: the freshness of complexion, the slightly unformed features that have not yet settled into adult definition, and the tentative grace of someone still growing into her body. The figure may wear a furisode, the long-sleeved kimono associated with unmarried young women, its swinging sleeves signaling her youth and availability. The printer would have used especially delicate skin tones, lighter and more translucent than those applied to mature women, to suggest the smoothness and luminosity of young skin. Hakuho's treatment of this subject within the [shin-hanga](/glossary/shin-hanga) framework connects it to centuries of Japanese artistic interest in the beauty of youth as a distinct aesthetic category.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Young Girl (Wakai Onna) was created by Hirano Hakuhō (平野白峰).
Young Girl (Wakai Onna) was published by Watanabe Shozaburo.
Young Girl (Wakai Onna) depicts children and daily life.
