Courtesans of the Ōgiya on a Spring Outing

Description

In these prints, two courtesans of the Ōgiya brothel are entering an open pavilion, while another group gathers around a Japanese hibachi inside. Hanaōgi, the most celebrated courtesan of Ōgiya in the late 1700s, is depicted at a desk. Holding a brush in her hand, she turns her head to one side as if gathering her thoughts before writing in the book before her. Both her position and her loosened hair separate Hanaōgi from her courtesan companions who wear elaborate coiffures. This depiction of her captures both her knowledge of poetry and her skill as a calligrapher.

Provenance

Jacquin Collection; (Walpole Galleries, New York, NY, January 20, 1921 sale, lot 158) (January 20, 1921); (Yamanaka & Co., sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (1921); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1921–)

Courtesans of the Ōgiya on a Spring Outing

Utagawa Toyokuni

mid- or late 1790s

Accession Number

1921.360.b

Medium

One of a triptych of woodblock prints

Dimensions

Sheet: 36.9 x 23.8 cm (14 1/2 x 9 3/8 in.)

Classification

Print

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Gift from J. H. Wade