The Courtesan Takigawa of Ogiya (from the series Seven Aspects of Komachi in the Green Houses) (1797 or 1798): Art, History and Details

The Courtesan Takigawa of Ogiya (from the series Seven Aspects of Komachi in the Green Houses) (1797 or 1798) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Kitagawa Utamaro (Japanese, c. 1754–1806).

The work and its context

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

Takigawa, one of the most famous Yoshiwara courtesans at the Ogiya brothel, is shown here after her bath. Comparing this print with the other portrait of Takigawa by Utamaro (see Woman Drying Her Hands [1930.219]) illustrates how pose, gesture, and clothing can suggest different moods for the same individual.

Object facts

• Title: The Courtesan Takigawa of Ogiya (from the series Seven Aspects of Komachi in the Green Houses)
• Date: 1797 or 1798
• Creator attribution: Kitagawa Utamaro (Japanese, c. 1754–1806)
• Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
• Type: Print
• Technique: color woodblock print
• Dimensions: Sheet: 38.9 x 25.5 cm (15 5/16 x 10 1/16 in.)
• Collection: Japanese Art
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 1985.361

Collection credit

The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith

Further reading listed by the museum

• Sotheby's London. Highly Important Japanese Prints, Illustrated Books and Drawings and Paintings, from the Henri Vever Collection: Part III. March 24, 1977.
• Sotheby's London. Highly Important Japanese Prints, Illustrated Books and Drawings and Paintings, from the Henri Vever Collection: Part III. March 24, 1977.

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.