Courtesan (1716–35): Art, History and Details

Courtesan (1716–35) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Matsuno Chikanobu (Japanese, active 1716–35).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

A glamorous courtesan sports an outer robe decorated with large roundels featuring plant motifs including iris and bush clover. Little is known about the life and artistic training of the painter Matsuno Chikanobu, an ukiyo-e artist who painted in a style strongly reminiscent of that of the Kaigetsudō studio. Many of his known paintings are on silk, and executed with high quality pigments, indicating that his primary clientele were wealthy individuals.

Object facts

• Title: Courtesan
• Date: 1716–35
• Creator attribution: Matsuno Chikanobu (Japanese, active 1716–35)
• Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
• Dimensions: Overall: 179.1 x 58.5 cm (70 1/2 x 23 1/16 in.); Overall: 177.8 x 52.7 cm (70 x 20 3/4 in.); Painting only: 91 x 35.5 cm (35 13/16 x 14 in.); Painting only: 91.8 x 39.6 cm (36 1/8 x 15 9/16 in.)
• Collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 1985.249

Collection credit

The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith

Further reading listed by the museum

• “Checklist of the Kelvin Smith Bequest.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 75, no. 7 (September 1988): 292–295.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.