Lady at the Bath Artist: Kawamata Tsunemasa (Japanese, active ca. 1716–48)

ca. 1716–48

Asian Art

By appointment, Wurtele Study Center

This rare work by the relatively unknown artist Kawamata Tsunemasa is an early example of pictures of the “floating world” (ukiyo-e), a term assigned to paintings and prints depicting urban life and its enjoyments, such as the theater and the demimonde. The image of the young woman removing her pink kimono just before stepping into a wooden bathtub belongs to a subgenre known as “painting in a danger zone” (abuna-e), which is suggestive but not quite erotic. The artist’s signature is written discreetly on the border of a black obi sash hanging from the kimono rack, and a thin cotton towel known as a tenugui rests on the edge of the tub.

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper (handpainted ukiyo-e)

Dimensions

without mounting: 34 × 9 15/16 in. (86.4 × 25.3 cm)

Credit Line

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Olsen, Mr. and Mrs. Laurens Hammond, and Mr. and Mrs. Knight Woolley, B.A. 1917

Accession Number

1967.64.223

Geography

Japan

Culture

Japanese

Period

Edo period (1615–1868)

Classification

Paintings

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
K. Watanabe Collection, Tokyo; Fred H. Olsen (1891–1986), and Florence Quittenton Olsen, Guilford, Conn.; gift in 1967 to Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

hanging scrolls

Subject

bathing (hygienic activity) women

Signed

Tsune masa from right to left as a seal in gold relief lettering drawn at the bottom of the black obi sash hung from the ikō clothes stand.

Technical metadata and APIs

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