No. 6 - Lipstick - 口紅

From the "12 Aspects of Women" series, this print focuses on the intimate act of applying lipstick — one of the cosmetic rituals Kotondo returned to repeatedly throughout his bijin-ga work. The original 1932 composition, reproduced posthumously in the 1980s, shows a woman in the act of applying the red lip rouge called beni, her focus complete, her gaze internal. The act of cosmetic preparation was, for Kotondo, a vehicle for exploring feminine absorption and the private self.