Painting the Lips, Kitagawa Utamaro

Exhibition Label: “Transformations,” Feb-2006, Mary Dusenbury and Alison Miller Makeup is a powerful means of changing one’s appearance. This woman was about to paint her lips, either red, or green on the bottom lip and red on the top. She might also have painted her teeth black. Although styles vary widely in different times and places, the practice of achieving “beauty” through applying pigments and potions remains the same to this day, when annual cosmetics industry profits exceed twenty billion dollars. Archive Label, Oct-Dec. 1989: Bijin (beautiful women) were beloved subjects of Japanese woodblock print artists, who continued to represent courtesans, young maidens, and housewives for generations with unfaltering interest. These three prints of domestic scenes show typical feminine activities: writing a letter to a lover, applying make-up, and embroidering. Harunobu's figure is young and fragile and contrasts sharply with the mature, alluring lady depicted by Utamaro. Shuntei was a century younger than the other two masters and in his print he employed a richer palette of colors. It is interesting to note that real lacquer was applied to the lacquer mirror held by Utamaro's courtesan.