Usugumo, from the series "Framed Pictures of Women for the Katsushika Circle (Katsushikaren gakumen fujin awase)"

From the Katsushikaren gakumen fujin awase, this shikishiban surimono depicts Usugumo, a figure most likely identified with the Heian-era court lady featured in the Tale of Genji or with the prominent Yoshiwara courtesan who carried the same name in the Edo period. Held by the Art Institute of Chicago and dated to around 1822, the print uses the same framing-device conceit that defines the Framed Pictures series, presenting Usugumo as if displayed within a wooden frame. The ambiguity between the courtly and the courtesan Usugumo is part of the kyoka world's habitual layering of classical and contemporary reference, allowing the print to resonate simultaneously with literary tradition and with the demimonde culture of late-Edo Edo. Gakutei renders the figure with quiet linear precision and reserves metallic pigments for accents in the robes and ground, in keeping with the visual unity of the series.