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The Courtesans Kasugano and Utahama of Tamaya, from Courtesans of the Pleasure Quarters in Double Mirrors
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Kitagawa Utamaro was well known for his close-up portraits that belonged to a genre, or category, of images called bijinga (pictures of beautiful people). This print is from a series that invites comparisons of the attractiveness of different figures. It features two sex workers from an establishment in the Yoshiwara district of Edo (now Tokyo).
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineThe Courtesans Kasugano and Utahama of Tamaya, from Courtesans of the Pleasure Quarters in Double Mirrors (青楼遊君合鏡 玉屋内 春日野 歌浜), c. 1800. Kitagawa Utamaro (Japanese, c. 1754–1806). Color woodblock print; 39.1 x 26.1 cm (15 3/8 x 10 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Edward L. Whittemore, 1930.217
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