Hanga
Lipstick - 口紅 by Torii Kotondo — Japanese Woodblock print, 1932

Lipstick - 口紅

by Torii Kotondo

Shin-hanga
FiguresBijin-gaPortraits
Date:
1932
Medium:
Woodblock print
Format:
Oban
Edition:
Published by Watanabe Shozaburo
Source:
Ohmi Gallery

Description

A woman applies lipstick, her lips pursed in concentration as she performs the intimate ritual of cosmetic preparation. The Japanese title Kuchibeni — literally "mouth red" — names the cosmetic itself, directing attention to the sensory quality of the act: the precise application of color to lips. The subject is among Kotondo's most iconic, repeated in slight variations across his small oeuvre, each version finding a different quality of absorption, a different angle of light.

More Prints by Torii Kotondo

Yuki (Snow) by Torii Kotondo

Yuki (Snow)

1929

Japanese Color Woodblock Print on handmade paper

Undergarment (Variant State) by Torii Kotondo

Undergarment (Variant State)

1929

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Snow (Yuki) by Torii Kotondo

Snow (Yuki)

1929

Woodblock Print

Sash- Obi- V1 by Torii Kotondo

Sash- Obi- V1

1929

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More Figures Prints

Shamyris, Shôwa period, dated 1965? by Hideo Hagiwara

Shamyris, Shôwa period, dated 1965?

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Celebrating the Good Harvest: Felicitations for a Thousand Ages (Nôhônen, Chiyo no kotobuki) by Kawanabe Kyosai

Celebrating the Good Harvest: Felicitations for a Thousand Ages (Nôhônen, Chiyo no kotobuki)

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Midas, Shôwa period, dated 1965? by Hideo Hagiwara

Midas, Shôwa period, dated 1965?

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Gundari Myôô, Shôwa period, dated 1962 by Kihei Sasajima

Gundari Myôô, Shôwa period, dated 1962

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Featured in Collections

Curated cross-cuts that include this print.

Shin-Hanga: Japan's Twentieth-Century Print RevivalBijin-ga: Japanese Beauty Prints

Frequently Asked Questions

Lipstick - 口紅 was created by Torii Kotondo (鳥居言人) in 1932.

Lipstick - 口紅 was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (1932).

Lipstick - 口紅 depicts figures, bijin-ga, and portraits.