The Courtesan Takigawa of Ogiya (from the series Seven Aspects of Komachi in the Green Houses)

From the 1797 series "Seiro nana Komachi" (Seven Aspects of Komachi in the Green Houses), this Kitagawa Utamaro print in the Cleveland Museum of Art casts the courtesan Takigawa of the Ogiya as one of the Seven Komachis, a beloved cultural conceit that paired contemporary Yoshiwara stars with episodes from the legendary life of the Heian poetess Ono no Komachi. The seven episodes, drawn from medieval Noh and earlier waka traditions, included Komachi at her writing desk, Komachi parched and praying for rain, and other emblematic moments of feminine wit, eros, and devotion. By transposing these classical scenarios onto named courtesans of the seiro (green houses, a poetic term for the licensed quarter), Utamaro and his publisher participated in the long-running Edo project of marrying high literary tradition to the latest celebrities of the pleasure quarter. Takigawa was a star of the Ogiya, one of the major brothels of the Yoshiwara, and her name in the title links the print to the gossip culture of Edo bijin-ga consumers. Utamaro's elongated figure, refined coiffure, and characteristic three-quarter-view face exemplify his peak style of the mid-1790s. The Cleveland Museum of Art's impression preserves the crisp line and registration that made original states of this series so prized within the history of ukiyo-e.