KAWAMATA TSUNEMASA. Evening Faces" (Yugao) chapter from The Tale of Genji (Genji monogatari)"

KAWAMATA TSUNEMASA (active 1716-48)

Evening Faces" (Yugao) chapter from The Tale of Genji (Genji monogatari)"

"Evening Faces" (Yugao) chapter from The Tale of Genji (Genji monogatari). Artist: Kawamata Tsunemasa (active 1716-48). Culture: Japan. Dimensions: Image: 13 1/8 × 21 9/16 in. (33.4 × 54.7 cm) Overall with mounting: 46 7/16 × 25 3/16 in. (118 × 64 cm) Overall with knobs: 46 7/16 × 27 5/16 in. (118 × 69.3 cm). Date: 18th century. In Chapter Four of the narrative Prince Genji visits his old nurse. A young woman in the house next door sends her servant to Genji's attendant, with the gift of a fan on which a yugao ("evening faces") flower has been placed. Genji and the lady embark upon a love affair that ends with her death, when she is possessed by the spirit of the jealous Lady Rokujo, another of Genji's lovers. This painting bears the signature and seal of Tsunemasa, a painter of ukiyo-e who specialized in pictures of beauties and also themes derived from literature. In his rendition of the "Yugao" scene, he has dressed his figures in Edo-period garb rather than the multilayered robes of the Heian-period aristocracy. The tall beauty with the tortoiseshell hair comb may represent Yugao rather than her attendant, and the smaller woman stands in for Genji's manservant.

Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper

Edo period (1615-1868)

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Album / Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY

Artist Copyright must be cleared if the artist's work is not in the public domain in the country where you are licensing.

Model: No - Property: No
Rights questions?

4200 x 3152 px | 37.9 MB

35.6 x 26.7 cm | 14.0 x 10.5 in (300 dpi)