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Bijin-ga

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Kitagawa Utamaro
Yoshiwara Women Looking into the Street at Springtime

Yoshiwara Women Looking into the Street at Springtime by Kitagawa Utamaro — Japanese color woodblock print, 1753–1806

Yoshiwara Women Looking into the Street at Springtime

by Kitagawa Utamaro

Urban Scenes Spring

Date:: 1753–1806
Medium:: color woodblock print
Format:: Oban
Dimensions:: 36.9 × 24.8 cm
Source:

Cleveland Museum of Art

Typical Price

Fine early impression of bijin-ga in excellent condition: $5,000–$30,000
Good condition bijin-ga print: $1,500–$8,000
Later impression or common design: $500–$3,000

Description

This color woodblock print from Utamaro's working years depicts women of the Yoshiwara looking out into the street during springtime — a scene that captures the liminal position of the quarter's inhabitants, visible to passersby through the slatted wooden bars of the mise (display room) but contained within. The spring season and the act of looking outward suggest a mood of gentle longing or curiosity, with the street visible through the women's gaze rather than through a depicted scene of it.

More Prints by Kitagawa Utamaro

A Low Class Prostitute (Gun [teppo]), from the series “Five Shades of Ink in the Northern Quarter" ("Hokkoku goshiki-zumi") by Kitagawa Utamaro

A Low Class Prostitute (Gun [teppo]), from the series “Five Shades of Ink in the Northern Quarter" ("Hokkoku goshiki-zumi")

c. 1794/95

Color woodblock print; oban

Woman Holding a Fan (from the series Ten Aspects of the Physiognomy of Women) by Kitagawa Utamaro

Woman Holding a Fan (from the series Ten Aspects of the Physiognomy of Women)

c. 1793

color woodblock print

Akashi of the Tamaya, from the series Seven Komachis of Yoshiwara (Seiro nana Komachi) (Tamaya uchi Akashi, Uraji, Shimano) 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 by Kitagawa Utamaro

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

More Urban Scenes Prints

A Hundred Shades of Ink of Edo: Kiyonaga's Pipe (Edo zumi hyaku shoku: Kiyonaga no kiseru) by Paul Binnie

A Hundred Shades of Ink of Edo: Kiyonaga's Pipe (Edo zumi hyaku shoku: Kiyonaga no kiseru)

Woodblock print

View of Kabuki Theater from Matsuya (Ginza Matsuya yori Kabukiza), no. 3 from the series "Pictures of Ginza, First Series (Gashu Ginza dai isshu)" by Oda Kazuma

View of Kabuki Theater from Matsuya (Ginza Matsuya yori Kabukiza), no. 3 from the series "Pictures of Ginza, First Series (Gashu Ginza dai isshu)"

1928

Color lithograph

Distant View of Mitsukoshi Movie Theater in Shinjuku from the Sixth Floor of Hoteiya (Hoteiya rokkai kara Shinjuku Mitsukoshi Musashi no kan enbo zu), no. 1 from the series "Scenery of Shinjuku (Gashu Shinjuku fukei)" by Oda Kazuma

Distant View of Mitsukoshi Movie Theater in Shinjuku from the Sixth Floor of Hoteiya (Hoteiya rokkai kara Shinjuku Mitsukoshi Musashi no kan enbo zu), no. 1 from the series "Scenery of Shinjuku (Gashu Shinjuku fukei)"

1930

Color lithograph

Spring Dusk at the Tōshō Shrine in Ueno by Kawase Hasui

Spring Dusk at the Tōshō Shrine in Ueno

1948

Woodblock print, ink and color on paper

Frequently Asked Questions

Yoshiwara Women Looking into the Street at Springtime was created by Kitagawa Utamaro (喜多川歌麿) in 1753–1806.

Yoshiwara Women Looking into the Street at Springtime depicts urban scenes and spring.

Yoshiwara Women Looking into the Street at Springtime measures 36.9 × 24.8 cm (Oban format).