Courtesan Writing a Letter ca. 1715 Kaigetsud? Doshin Departing from the standard Kaigetsud?-atelier compositional formula of depicting courtesans standing and otherwise unoccupied, here Doshin depicts his subject seated and writing a letter, no doubt to a special client. Courtesans reading or writing letters became a popular subject for ukiyo-e painters of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, and its origins may be traced to more complex genre screens and handscrolls depicting male and female figures within the pleasure district of Kyoto or Edo. The brilliantly colored floral pa
Courtesan Writing a Letter ca. 1715 Kaigetsud? Doshin Departing from the standard Kaigetsud?-atelier compositional formula of depicting courtesans standing and otherwise unoccupied, here Doshin depicts his subject seated and writing a letter, no doubt to a special client. Courtesans reading or writing letters became a popular subject for ukiyo-e painters of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, and its origins may be traced to more complex genre screens and handscrolls depicting male and female figures within the pleasure district of Kyoto or Edo. The brilliantly colored floral pattern of the woman’s clothes effectively sets off the chalk-white expanses of the letter paper, her delicate hands, and her plump face. The garments are outlined in heavy strokes of dark ink, a feature common to compositions produced in the Kaigetsud? studio. As did all other successors of Kaigetsud? Ando, Doshin signed his name on this work as “Matsuy?” (meaning “last leaf”) of Kaigetsud?. The seal appears to read “Ando,” and indeed many Kaigetsud? artists continued to use the seal of the studio’s Courtesan Writing a Letter. Kaigetsud? Doshin (Japanese, active 1711–1736). Japan. ca. 1715. Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper. Edo period (1615–1868). Paintings
Size: 4000px × 3002px
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