print
- Museum number
- 1930,0910,0.1
- Title
- Object: Kamisuki 髪隙 (Combing the Hair)
- Description
-
Colour woodblock print, with mica background. Woman in blue bathrobe combing her long hair. Signed, dated and sealed.
- Production date
- March 1920
- Dimensions
-
Height: 44.80 centimetres
-
Width: 34.80 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
- Smith et al 1990
The title is given by many Japanese publications but is not on the print itself. Goyo's late call to the woodblock print after a career of illustration in other media was inspired by a love of the old technique and an intense admiration for the great portraits of 'bijin' ('beautiful women') by Utamaro (see nos 213-14). His perfectionism led to his publishing only a handful of prints, each one technically flawless and suggestive of a wistful passion which is characteristic of the art of the Taisho period. The fine cutting of the black blocks to represent the intricacies of women's hair was an Ukiyo-e tradition which Goyo has enthusiastically revived, and to ensure its greater impact he has restricted the rest of his palette to little more than pale blue and the cool silver grey of the mica ground.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2008 18 Feb-1 Jun, London, BM, Japanese Galleries, 'Japan from prehistory to the present'
2016 Oct - 2017 Apr, London, BM, Japanese Galleries, 'Japan from prehistory to the present'
- Acquisition date
- 1930
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1930,0910,0.1
