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Hanaōgi of Ōgiya from the series Picture Puzzles
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Hanaōgi of Ōgiya from the series Picture Puzzles

Kitagawa Utamaro (Japanese, c. 1754–1806), artist · c. 1797 · Color woodblock print; ink and color on paper

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.

About this work

In this tricky print, one must decode the small pictures in the rectangle at the upper left corner to learn the identity of the subject of the print: a woman whose name means "Flower Fan," her place of work called the "House of Fans," and what she is doing—emerging from a mosquito net.

Cleveland Museum of Art’s own description
Credit lineHanaōgi of Ōgiya from the series Picture Puzzles, c. 1797. Kitagawa Utamaro (Japanese, c. 1754–1806). Color woodblock print; ink and color on paper; sheet: 37.6 x 25.4 cm (14 13/16 x 10 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith, 1985.359

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