Haru no akatsuki (Spring Dawn), Utagawa Kunisada

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Utagawa Kunisada, Haru no akatsuki (Spring Dawn)
Utagawa Kunisada, Haru no akatsuki (Spring Dawn)
Utagawa Kunisada
Haru no akatsuki (Spring Dawn)
circa 1820s, Edo period (1600–1868)
Utagawa Kunisada
1786–1864
Haru no akatsuki (Spring Dawn), circa 1820s, Edo period (1600–1868)
Portfolio/Series title: Bijin Awase (Collection of Beautiful Women)
Where object was made: Japan
Material/technique: mica; color woodcut
Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 385.8 x 260.4 mm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 15 3/16 x 10 1/4 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 19 x 14 in
Credit line: Gift of Mrs. Arthur S. Johnson (The May Finney Marcy Collection)
Accession number: 1964.0052
Not on display
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Archive Label 2003: Hashiguchi Goyo was one of the last great traditional Japanese woodcut print artists. He studied both Japanese and Western-style painting and so his work synthesizes Western and Japanese elements. The majority of Goyo’s paintings and prints are of bijin (beautiful women), a subject popular for centuries in Japan. However, Goyo based his prints on brush or pencil drawings from live models, a practice he acquired from his training in Western-style painting. In this print we see a woman kneeling in front of a mirror and preparing herself for morning make-up. Her hair is slightly unkempt, and there are lines under her eyes. Her thin haori gown suggests that it must be summer. The solid three-dimensional treatment of her body, the realism of her pose and portrait, and the direct, pensive gaze towards the viewer are Western stylistic elements. Meanwhile, the flat, uniformly colored areas, the emphasis on textile design, and the use of mica dust in the background derive from the Japanese print tradition.