Art Institute of Chicago
Woman About to Write a Poem
Yashima Gakutei
- Date
- c. 1824
- Medium
- Color woodblock print with metallic pigments; surimono shikishiban
- Culture
- Japan
- Department
- Arts of Asia
- Institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
The figure of a sumptuously attired woman takes up almost the entire composition of this print. She wears a layered kimono, the outer robe of which has a lavish design of plums, a winding stream, and Chinese characters. She is an educated woman as evidenced by the books piled on the lacquer cabinet behind her. She looks at a blank sheet of decorated paper, brush in hand, ready to compose a poem. Above her, the poems speak of the art of poetry as practiced by animals, whereby the animals represent the efforts of amateur poets. One of the poems reads: Even the sound Of the song Bellowed by a frog Who lives in a well Is somehow transformed [when inscribed on a poem card.] (Translated by John Carpenter)
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- Object type
- AAT300041273
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