Woman Bathing

Object Details

• Artist

  Hashiguchi Goyo 橋口五葉 (1880-1921)

• Label

  This print was the first color woodblock print published from a design by Goyo. Commissioned by the publisher Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962), the print was produced by a carver and printers employed by Watanabe in a workshop that functioned similarly to those of the Edo period (1615-1868). Following the Edo period custom, Watanabe's circular seal is printed at the lower left, while Goyo, embarking on his first creation in this medium, placed a seal reading "Shisaku," meaning "trial production," below the date and his signature at the upper left.

  In this print, Goyo hoped to achieve an image that conveyed the sense of solidity and volume from his drawings by using line and flat color without recourse to shading. The woman, kneeling beside a basin with her clothing folded nearby, wrings out a cloth to wash before entering the soaking tub. Her completely nude figure reflects Goyo's training in Western artistic practices such as drawing from life, which formed the basis of all his figure prints. Ultimately, Goyo was not satisfied with the result of his cooperation with Watanabe. Convinced that the artist should exert more control over the result, he turned to publishing his own prints after this single collaboration.

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Japanese Beauty: Woodblock Prints by Goyo from the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution (November 18, 2001 to February 10, 2002)

  Goyo: Japanese Prints (August 27, 1995 to March 17, 1996)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of H. Ed Robison in memory of Ulrike Pietzner-Robison

• Type

  Print

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1910s

• Name

  Hashiguchi, Goyo

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Art, Japanese Art, Taisho era (1912 - 1926), Bathing, Woman

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Prints