Cleveland Museum of Art

Courtesans of the Ōgiya on a Spring Outing

Utagawa ToyokuniLinkedCulture matchlcp-7fb54014fdbe

Date

mid- or late 1790s

Medium

Triptych of woodblock prints, ink and color on paper

Culture

Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

Department

Japanese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Object ID

103292

In these prints, two courtesans of the Ōgiya brothel are entering an open pavilion, while another group gathers around a Japanese hibachi inside. Hanaōgi, the most celebrated courtesan of Ōgiya in the late 1700s, is depicted at a desk. Holding a brush in her hand, she turns her head to one side as if gathering her thoughts before writing in the book before her. Both her position and her loosened hair separate Hanaōgi from her courtesan companions who wear elaborate coiffures. This depiction of her captures both her knowledge of poetry and her skill as a calligrapher.

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