Yang Kuei Fei

The Tang dynasty imperial consort Yang Guifei (719–756) is rendered as a voluptuous female figure in Oda's idiom of feminine fullness. Yang Guifei was conventionally listed among the Four Beauties of ancient China and served as a recurring subject for poets and painters across East Asia. Oda's interpretation departs from the slender, elegant courtly portraits of Edo-period bijin-ga, instead presenting the consort with the deliberately exaggerated proportions that mark Oda's mature work. The mokuhanga technique allows for flat areas of saturated color separated by clean outlines, with potential bokashi gradation in robes or background. This subject connects to Oda's broader interest in classical female icons drawn across cultures — Aphrodite, Tara, Kannon — recasting historical women as embodiments of strength and sensuality rather than as passive objects of contemplation.