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Courtesan Writing a Letter

ca. 1715
Not on view
Departing from the standard Kaigetsudō-atelier compositional formula of depicting courtesans standing and otherwise unoccupied, here Doshin depicts his subject seated and writing a letter, no doubt to a special client. Courtesans reading or writing letters became a popular subject for ukiyo-e painters of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, and its origins may be traced to more complex genre screens and handscrolls depicting male and female figures within the pleasure district of Kyoto or Edo. The brilliantly colored floral pattern of the woman’s clothes effectively sets off the chalk-white expanses of the letter paper, her delicate hands, and her plump face. The garments are outlined in heavy strokes of dark ink, a feature common to compositions produced in the Kaigetsudō studio.

As did all other successors of Kaigetsudō Ando, Doshin signed his name on this work as “Matsuyō” (meaning “last leaf”) of Kaigetsudō. The seal appears to read “Ando,” and indeed many Kaigetsudō artists continued to use the seal of the studio’s founder.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 懐月堂度辰筆　文を書く遊女図
  • Title: Courtesan Writing a Letter
  • Artist: Kaigetsudō Doshin (Japanese, active 1711–1736)
  • Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
  • Date: ca. 1715
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
  • Dimensions: Image: 19 1/2 × 23 5/8 in. (49.5 × 60 cm)
    Overall with mounting: 53 × 28 13/16 in. (134.6 × 73.2 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015
  • Object Number: 2015.300.119
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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Courtesan for the Ninth Month, Kaigetsudō Doshin Japanese, Monochrome woodblock print (sumizuri-e); ink on paper, Japan
Courtesan for the Ninth Month
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Standing Courtesan, Kaigetsudō Doshin Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, Japan
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Jizō Bosatsu Playing a Flute, Kano Tan'yū Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, Japan
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Beauty of the Kanbun Era, Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on paper, Japan
Beauty of the Kanbun Era
Japan
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Zhou Maoshu Admiring Lotuses, Kaihō Yūsetsu Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink on silk, Japan
Zhou Maoshu Admiring Lotuses
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