Skip Ribbon Commands
Skip to main content
Seattle Art Museum (SAM)
menu
Skip Navigation Linksvisit

Kisegawa of the Matsubaya House Holding a Fan

Photo: Colleen Kollar Zorn

Kisegawa of the Matsubaya House Holding a Fan

1800

Hosoda Eisui

Japanese, active ca. 1790-1823

Like Utamaro, Eisui was particularly known for okubi-e, or bust portraits. In this example, the subtle color and charming expression of the girlish courtesan capture one's attention. She looks just slightly disheveled, perhaps suffering from the heat of a summer's day in swampy Edo. Eisui's bust portraits, though not attaining the eroticism of an Utamaro or the elegance of an Eishi, are nonetheless delightful.

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Sheet size: 14 1/2 x 9 3/4 in. (36.8 x 24.8 cm)
Gift of Mary and Allan Kollar, in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum
2014.32.2
Provenance: [Sotheby’s, Paris, Collection Huguette Berès, Estampes, Dessins et Livres Illustres Japonais, Nov. 27, 2002, lot no. 71]; purchased at auction by Allan Kollar, Seattle, Washington, 2002; to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 2014
Photo: Colleen Kollar Zorn
location
Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Fleeting Beauty: Japanese Woodblock Prints, Apr. 1 - July 4, 2010. Text by Catherine Roche. Cat. no. 33, reproduced p. 56 and on cover.

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., p. 101.

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

Learn more about Equity at SAM