Three Courtesans with a Client

Description

This double-page book illustration is called a sumizuri (meaning to print with sumi ink on paper). It may be an adaptation of a picture book by Kiyonobu I titled Keisei ehon, or Illustrated Book of Courtesans, portraying the most glamorous people in the ukiyo-e world. Masanobu had the greatest influence on the development of the ukiyo-e style during the first half of the 1700s. A publisher, print designer, and painter, he initiated new genres of prints such as the "perspective picture" (uki-e).

Provenance

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Three Courtesans with a Client

Okumura Masanobu

Accession Number

1985.337

Medium

color woodblock print

Dimensions

Sheet: 26.5 x 37.7 cm (10 7/16 x 14 13/16 in.)

Classification

Print

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith