Courtesan
Joryu Mihata, Japanese, active 1830 - 1843
mid-19th century
Colored inks
Overall: 78 × 23 1/4 in. (198.1 × 59.1 cm)
Image: 48 1/2 × 17 7/8 in. (123.2 × 45.4 cm)
Panel: 55 3/4 × 23 1/4 in. (141.6 × 59.1 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of Elon G. Pratt, Class of 1906
P.947.17
Geography
Place Made: Japan, East Asia, Asia
Period
19th century
Object Name
Painting
Research Area
Painting
On view
Inscriptions
Signed, left center:
Label
Mihata Jōryū was renowned for his paintings of beautiful women during the late Edo period. He specialized in portraying the elegant beauty of courtesans, detailing their extravagant accoutrements, voluminous bodies, and subtle emotions. In this painting, Mihata focuses on the courtesan’s kimono. Among the wrinkles of the fabric, the artist incorporated two dragons, freely traversing the dark sky.
Dragons often engaged with the masculine energy of yang, symbolizing activity and animation. By portraying the dragon alongside the female courtesan, embodying feminine yin energy, the artist represents the harmony between these two principles.
From the 2024 exhibition Attitude of Coexistence: Non-Humans in East Asian Art, curated by Haely Chang, Jane and Raphael Bernstein Associate Curator of East Asian Art
Course History
ARTH 65, Japanese Prints, Allen Hockley, Winter 2012
ARTH 64, The Japanese Painting Tradition, Allen Hockley, Spring 2014
ARTH 62.3, Japanese Prints, Allen Hockley, Winter 2019
ARTH 62.30/ASCL 62.12, Japanese Prints, Allen Hockley, Spring 2022
ARTH 62.30/ASCL 62.12, Japanese Prints, Allen Hockley, Spring 2022
Art History 62.30, Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages 62.12, Japanese Prints, Allen Hockley, Spring 2023
Art History 62.30, Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages 62.12, Japanese Prints, Allen Hockley, Summer 2023
Exhibition History
Attitude of Coexistence: Non-humans in East Asian Art, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, November 16, 2024-March 1, 2025.
Provenance
Elon Graham Pratt (1883-1964); given to present collection, 1947.
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