Teahouse Waitress behind a Bamboo Blind, from the series Eight Views of Tea Stalls in Celebrated Places

ca. 1795-96

Japanese, 1754 - 1806

Bamboo Blind utilizes a compositional technique Utamaro often employed: a transparent layer that separates viewer from subject. By partially obscuring a form with a gauzy robe, mosquito net, or woven grass shade, the artist both concealed and revealed, heightening a sense of voyeuristic mystery. It required rare skill to produce such subtle color changes and sophisticated designs.

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Sheet: 15 3/8 x 10 1/4 in. (39.1 x 26 cm)

Gift of Mary and Allan Kollar, in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum

2017.23.8

Provenance: [Israel Goldman Japanese Prints, London, England]; purchased from gallery by Allan Kollar, Seattle, Washington, 2004; to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 2017

Photo: Scott Leen

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, SAM at 75: Building a Collection for Seattle, May 5 - Sept. 9, 2007.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Fleeting Beauty: Japanese Woodblock Prints, Apr. 1 - July 4, 2010. Text by Catherine Roche. Cat. no. 23, reproduced p. 46 and frontispiece.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Renegade Edo: Japanese Prints and Toulouse-Lautrec, July 21 - Dec. 3, 2023. Text by Xiaojin Wu. No cat. no., pp. 37, 100, reproduced pl. 10.

Published ReferencesShirahara, Yukiko. "Ukiyo-e: The Aesthetics of Pleasure." In A Community of Collectors, Seattle, Washington: Seattle Art Museum, 2008; p. 171, reproduced no. 146.

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