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A Woman Beneath a Flowering Cherry Tree, Under a Gibbous Moon

A Woman Beneath a Flowering Cherry Tree, Under a Gibbous Moon

Utagawa Kunisada

The silver cherry tree branch and the cherry blossoms in this woman’s hair suggest she is likely the ninth-century poet Ono no Komachi. She wears court robes reminiscent of the Heian period (794–1185). Although her garments reflect an earlier time, the elaborate pinned coiffure is that of an elegant 19th-century woman. Komachi’s association with cherry trees stems from a melancholy poem she wrote comparing herself to the tree’s flowers fading in the rain. On this print, a different poem by Shinsuitei Bagi mentions the moon that appears in the dark sky. This work is a surimono or privately commissioned print. Surimono often combine poetry and printmaking in a complex verbal and visual exchange with layers of meaning. Kunisada, heavily engaged in the kyoka poetry salon culture in Edo, produced many surimono designs within his specialties of pictures of beautiful women and actor portraits.
Artist
Utagawa Kunisada
(Japanese, 1786 - 1864)
Title
A Woman Beneath a Flowering Cherry Tree, Under a Gibbous Moon
Date
ca. 1825
Medium
Color woodcut
Dimensions
8 1/4 x 7 1/4 in. Support
Credit
John H. Van Vleck Endowment Fund purchase
Accession No.
2003.43
Classification
Prints
Geography
Japan

Related

Before 1943, Henri Vever (Paris, France) [Lugt L.1381b]; 26 March 1975, sold by Sotheby and Co. (London, England) [lot 348]; 21 November 2003, sold by Israel Goldman Japanese Prints to the Elvehjem Museum of Art [now called Chazen Museum of Art].

  • Mueller, Laura. "Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School." Leiden, The Netherlands: Hotei Publishing, 2007. p. 144, no. 124
  • Hillier, Jack. "Japanese Prints & Drawings from the Vever Collection." Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1976. p. 832, cat. no. 814
  • Sotheby's, London. "Catalogue of Highly Important Japanese Prints, Illustrated Books and Drawings, from the Henri Vever Collection." Sotheby & Co., 1975. p. 376, lot 348

  • Utagawa: Masters of the Japanese Print, 1770-1900 : Chazen Museum of Art, 3/21/2008–6/15/2008

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