Beauty at bath

A woman at her bath is the subject of this undated oban woodblock print, placing it squarely within the bijin-ga tradition that Komura Settai helped reinvent for the twentieth century. The bathing beauty was a venerable ukiyo-e motif, treated by masters from Utamaro to Hashiguchi Goyo, and Settai's version balances sensuality with formal restraint. His line work traces the figure's contours with calligraphic assurance, the brush-derived curves of shoulder, arm, and hair rendered into carved lines that retain their fluidity. The intimate subject allowed Settai to explore the fall of fabric, the texture of skin, and the play of steam or water with the precision that defined his approach to the female figure.