Women in East Asian Paintings, Reimagined

A painting of a woman, seen from the waist up seated at a low table. She wears layered garments with various patterns and palettes. The attire appears lavish, as does her plumed headband, which holds up her dark hair. Calligraphy appears at upper left. This central image is flanked by fields of iridescent patterning, perhaps floral motifs.

Hara Zaichū (painter) and Kamo Suetaka (calligrapher), Woman in Chinese Clothing Seated at a Table (detail), Japan, Edo period, 1786. Hanging scroll, ink and color on silk. Yale University Art Gallery, Robert W. Lyons, M.D. 1964, Collection, Gift of Virginia Riggs Lyons

Sadako Ohki, Japan Foundation Associate Curator of Japanese Art, discusses a recently acquired polychrome Japanese painting (1786) by Hara Zaichū. We reimagine the identity of the women it depicts, in light of the poem that accompanies it in calligraphy, as well as by staging comparisons with Chinese and Japanese representations of women from the 16th through 19th century.  

Meet by the central column in the Gallery lobby. Space is limited.