Morning Hair (Asanegami)
- Date:
- 1930
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Dimensions:
- 48 × 29 cm
- Publisher:
This is among Kotondo's most celebrated compositions. Kotondo created only 21 bijin-ga designs (1927–1933), and the original woodblocks were destroyed before WWII, making any original period impression extraordinarily rare. "Kamisuki (Hair Combing)" set the artist record at $72,500 at Christie's New York in 2019.
A woman's hair falls loose in the morning state called asanegami — the disheveled, not-yet-arranged hair of someone freshly awoken. This color woodblock print from 1930 is among Kotondo's finest treatments of the asanegami subject, the hair cascading naturally rather than arranged. The composition frames the woman's upper body and face within the visual weight of her loosened hair, giving the image an intimacy and directness rare even in Kotondo's intimate oeuvre.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Morning Hair (Asanegami) was created by Torii Kotondo (鳥居言人) in 1930.
Morning Hair (Asanegami) was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (1930).
Morning Hair (Asanegami) depicts bijin-ga and portraits.
Morning Hair (Asanegami) measures 48 × 29 cm (Oban format).
