
Rouge
- Date:
- 1931
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
- Edition:
- Published by Watanabe Shozaburo
- Source:
- Japanese Art Open Database
Description
"Rouge," from 1931, depicts the application of lip rouge — the red cosmetic that was among the most transformative and symbolically charged elements of the modern woman's beauty ritual. Red lips signaled modernity, confidence, and the influence of Western cosmetic fashion on Japanese women of the Taisho and early Showa periods. Kobayakawa renders the brilliant red against pale skin with the chromatic precision that was his technical signature, making the color itself a subject as much as the act of application.
More Prints by Kobayakawa Kiyoshi

Applying Make-up (Keshô), from the series Two Views of Modern Fashions (Kindai jisei yosooi no uchi ni)
Not set
Woodblock print

Eyes, Hitomi, no. 4 from the series Modern Styles of Makeup
1/1931
Woodblock print

The Mistress Okichi
1932
Japanese Color Woodblock Print on handmade paper

Makeup in Modern Times
1930
Woodblock Print
More Bijin-ga Prints
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Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Rouge was created by Kobayakawa Kiyoshi (小早川清) in 1931.
Rouge was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (1931).
Rouge depicts bijin-ga and daily life.



