Woman Holding up a Piece of Fabric (Nuno o kazasu onna)
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
Description
From around 1790, this print depicts a woman raising a length of cloth above her head — a gesture that combines practical textile examination with an elegant compositional device. The raised fabric stretches the figure upward and allows the billowing cloth to fill the upper portion of the composition with texture and color. Utamaro returned several times to this gesture, which transformed the mundane act of inspecting fabric into a moment of visual poetry.
More Prints by Kitagawa Utamaro
Akashi of the Tamaya, from the series Seven Komachis of Yoshiwara (Seiro nana Komachi) (Tamaya uchi Akashi, Uraji, Shimano)
Woodblock print
Hour of the Tiger (Tora no koku = 4 AM) from the series Twelve Hours in Yoshiwara (Seirô jûni toki tsuzuki), Late Edo period, circa 1794
Woodblock print
Ikebana arrangement of Peony and Willow in Dragon Pot
1781–1806
Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper
The Greatest Beauties of Our Time (Toji zensei bijin zoroe): Somenosuke of the Matsubaya with Attendants Wakagi and Wakaba
Woodblock print
More Bijin-ga Prints
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Woman Holding up a Piece of Fabric (Nuno o kazasu onna) was created by Kitagawa Utamaro (喜多川歌麿).
Woman Holding up a Piece of Fabric (Nuno o kazasu onna) depicts bijin-ga.