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Lot Essay
published:
Azabu Museum of Art, ed., Azabu bijutsukan: Shuzohin zuroku (Azabu Museum of Art: Catalogue of the collection) (Tokyo: Azabu Museum of Art, 1986), no. 46.
Azabu Museum of Art, and Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, eds., Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e meihin ten: Azabu bijutsukan shozo/Ukiyo-e Painting Masterpieces in the Collection of the Azabu Museum of Art, introduction by Kobayashi Tadashi, exh. cat. (Tokyo: Azabu Museum of Art; Osaka: Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, 1988), pl. 86.
Azabu Museum of Arts and Crafts, and Japan Institute of Arts and Crafts, eds., Edo no fashon, kaikan kinen ten, Part 1: Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e ni miru onnatachi no yosooi/"Fashion of Edo": Women's dress in Ukiyo-e Paintings, exh. cat. (Tokyo: Azabu Museum of Arts and Crafts, 1989), pl. 68.
Kobayashi Tadashi, ed., Azabu bijutsu kogeikan (Azabu Museum of Arts and Crafts), vol. 6 of Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e taikan (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1995), no. 41.
Narazaki Muneshige, Hokusai, vol. 7 of Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e, edited by Narazaki Muneshige (Tokyo: Shueisha, 1982), pl. 41.
Okamoto Hiromi, "Variations on the Theme of 'Two Courtesans': Bijin Paintings by Hokusai and his Pupils," in Hokusai Paintings: Selected Essays, edited by Gian Carlo Calza, with the assistance of John T. Carpenter (Venice: The International Hokusai Research Centre, University of Venice, 1994), pl. 6--15.
Hokumei perpetuated a style of feminine beauty associated with Hokusai, her teacher, during the 1810s: stiff lines for facial features and jagged, hard-edged outlines for garments. She also inherited one of her teacher's seals. In a colophon on a painting of Carp and Turtles (dated 1813), Hokusai declares that he has transferred his seal to one of his pupils, who remains unnamed in the inscription. Hokumei's use of the Kimo dasoku seal here confirms that it was she who received the master's seal and his imprimatur of artistic approval.
The inscription is signed "Mitsuo," presumably the name of the courtesan shown here:
taoyame no With her maidenly smile
emai o mitsu no drawn in three fine strands,
itosuji ni is there a man
kokoro o hikanu whose heartstrings
hito wa arashina cannot not be plucked?
The word itosuji, or thread-like strands, also refers to the strings of a shamisen or koto, suggesting that the heartstrings of the courtesan's patrons can be plucked like a musical instrument. The reference to a smile composed of "three strands" was no doubt intended as a pun on the name Mitsuo (which includes the word "three"), but in fact a smile is drawn with a configuration of three lines.
Azabu Museum of Art, ed., Azabu bijutsukan: Shuzohin zuroku (Azabu Museum of Art: Catalogue of the collection) (Tokyo: Azabu Museum of Art, 1986), no. 46.
Azabu Museum of Art, and Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, eds., Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e meihin ten: Azabu bijutsukan shozo/Ukiyo-e Painting Masterpieces in the Collection of the Azabu Museum of Art, introduction by Kobayashi Tadashi, exh. cat. (Tokyo: Azabu Museum of Art; Osaka: Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, 1988), pl. 86.
Azabu Museum of Arts and Crafts, and Japan Institute of Arts and Crafts, eds., Edo no fashon, kaikan kinen ten, Part 1: Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e ni miru onnatachi no yosooi/"Fashion of Edo": Women's dress in Ukiyo-e Paintings, exh. cat. (Tokyo: Azabu Museum of Arts and Crafts, 1989), pl. 68.
Kobayashi Tadashi, ed., Azabu bijutsu kogeikan (Azabu Museum of Arts and Crafts), vol. 6 of Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e taikan (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1995), no. 41.
Narazaki Muneshige, Hokusai, vol. 7 of Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e, edited by Narazaki Muneshige (Tokyo: Shueisha, 1982), pl. 41.
Okamoto Hiromi, "Variations on the Theme of 'Two Courtesans': Bijin Paintings by Hokusai and his Pupils," in Hokusai Paintings: Selected Essays, edited by Gian Carlo Calza, with the assistance of John T. Carpenter (Venice: The International Hokusai Research Centre, University of Venice, 1994), pl. 6--15.
Hokumei perpetuated a style of feminine beauty associated with Hokusai, her teacher, during the 1810s: stiff lines for facial features and jagged, hard-edged outlines for garments. She also inherited one of her teacher's seals. In a colophon on a painting of Carp and Turtles (dated 1813), Hokusai declares that he has transferred his seal to one of his pupils, who remains unnamed in the inscription. Hokumei's use of the Kimo dasoku seal here confirms that it was she who received the master's seal and his imprimatur of artistic approval.
The inscription is signed "Mitsuo," presumably the name of the courtesan shown here:
taoyame no With her maidenly smile
emai o mitsu no drawn in three fine strands,
itosuji ni is there a man
kokoro o hikanu whose heartstrings
hito wa arashina cannot not be plucked?
The word itosuji, or thread-like strands, also refers to the strings of a shamisen or koto, suggesting that the heartstrings of the courtesan's patrons can be plucked like a musical instrument. The reference to a smile composed of "three strands" was no doubt intended as a pun on the name Mitsuo (which includes the word "three"), but in fact a smile is drawn with a configuration of three lines.