MAIKO (apprentise)

MAIKO (apprentice) depicts the young trainee geisha of Kyoto — the maiko with her elaborate hairstyle, hanging kanzashi ornaments, long dangling obi, and white-powdered face — in one of Maeda Masao's bijin-ga figure subjects. The maiko was among the most iconic figures in Kyoto culture and a consistent subject in twentieth-century Japanese printmaking, her elaborate traditional costume and training in the arts making her a visual representative of a specific world of artistic cultivation. Maeda's direct graphic style gives the figure a boldness that complements the elaborate formality of the maiko's appearance.