Tsukasa and Other Courtesans of the Ogiya Watching the Autumn Moon Rise Over Rice Fields from a Balcony in the Yoshiwara

1799

Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾 北斎

(Japanese, 1760–1849)
Sheet: 56.6 x 21 cm (22 5/16 x 8 1/4 in.)
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Location: not on view

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Description

Gomeirō is another name for the fashionable teahouse Ōgi-ya (House of Fans) in the Yoshiwara district of Edo (present-day Tokyo). Two courtesans, each attended by a geisha and a shinzō (apprentice to a courtesan) view a full autumn moon as it rises over the surrounding paddy fields. The elegance of the women's flowing robes and the serenity of the evening with a full silver moon contribute to the poetic atmosphere of this surimono, a privately commissioned print usually accompanied by text—here, a poem, which reads:

What liveliness! Geisha, shinzō, and jesters
fill the room, all guests of the moon.
Tsukasa and Other Courtesans of the Ogiya Watching the Autumn Moon Rise Over Rice Fields from a Balcony in the Yoshiwara

Tsukasa and Other Courtesans of the Ogiya Watching the Autumn Moon Rise Over Rice Fields from a Balcony in the Yoshiwara

1799

Katsushika Hokusai

(Japanese, 1760–1849)
Japan, Edo period (1615-1868)

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