![Seasons of the Pleasure Quarters: no. 4, Shinchi in Winter, Before the Mirror (Kuruwa no shunju: Dai-yon, fuyu [Shinchi], Kagami no mae) by Kitano Tsunetomi — Japanese Woodblock print](https://data.ukiyo-e.org/scholten/images/27a918e97d120f577f6e1a4390588574.jpg)
Seasons of the Pleasure Quarters: no. 4, Shinchi in Winter, Before the Mirror (Kuruwa no shunju: Dai-yon, fuyu [Shinchi], Kagami no mae)
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Publisher:
$2,000–$15,000. Snow and night scenes tend to command premium prices for this artist. Key value factors: Kitano's sensuous Osaka-style bijin-ga have strong collector demand. His paintings command significantly higher prices.
The final print in Tsunetomi's "Seasons of the Pleasure Quarters" series completes the cycle with winter in the Shinchi district, where a woman sits before a mirror. The Japanese subtitle "Kagami no mae" (before the mirror) returns to the reflective, introspective subject that opens the series' thematic arc. Winter, as the season of endings and withdrawal, suits this self-examining moment. The four prints together create a comprehensive portrait of life in Osaka's pleasure quarters: autumn's physical sensuality (after a bath), spring's disciplined preparation (during a lesson), summer's atmospheric transition (twilight), and winter's quiet self-contemplation (before a mirror). Tsunetomi conceived the series as a unified work, with each season assigned to a different district, creating a map of the pleasure-quarter world that is simultaneously geographic, temporal, and emotional.
Woodblock print
c. 1832/38
Color woodblock print; oban
Yuki no Miyajima
1929
Color woodblock print; oban
1932
Woodblock print
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Seasons of the Pleasure Quarters: no. 4, Shinchi in Winter, Before the Mirror (Kuruwa no shunju: Dai-yon, fuyu [Shinchi], Kagami no mae) was created by Kitano Tsunetomi (北野恒富).
Seasons of the Pleasure Quarters: no. 4, Shinchi in Winter, Before the Mirror (Kuruwa no shunju: Dai-yon, fuyu [Shinchi], Kagami no mae) was published by Watanabe Shozaburo.
Seasons of the Pleasure Quarters: no. 4, Shinchi in Winter, Before the Mirror (Kuruwa no shunju: Dai-yon, fuyu [Shinchi], Kagami no mae) depicts snow scenes and winter.
