Courtesan Standing Behind Screen and Young Man Smoking

A tall, narrow hashira-e composition shows a standing courtesan in a white robe patterned with subtle motifs, a peach-orange sash draped over her arm, stepping out from behind a tall folding screen with a repeating dark diamond-lattice pattern. Behind the screen, seated at a small stand, a young man leans forward with a long pipe, partially obscured so only his head, shoulders, and hands are visible. The palette is restrained — ivory, black, and soft orange-pink — against a plain pale ground, with a paulownia-crest cartouche and the artist's signature in the lower left. Isoda Koryūsai, 1766; color woodblock print, hashira-e.