Japanese Paintings and Prints from the Museum of Oriental Art - Ca' Pesaro in Venice

Conversation between courtesans on the Veranda

Painting on silk - Ink, Pigments - 18th century - Japan

Conversation between courtesans on the Veranda Two courtesans dressed in clothes adorned with flowers talk to each other on a raised veranda surrounded by a garden.

One is seated and the other standing in front of a bedroom from which a bed surmounted by a canopy can be seen.

This painting in soft tones featuring mainly red, green and ochre is particularly soft and balanced in a Venue that expresses the serenity of a summer afternoon.

Kuwamata Tsunemasa (1716-1748) “Courtesans on the veranda of a teahouse”

Courtesans on the veranda of a tea house, Ca' Pesaro Oriental Art Museum in Venice, Italy

Courtesans on the veranda of a tea house Kuwamata Tsunemasa (1716-1748) Painting on silk (43,5 x 56,8cm) 18th century - Japan

The painter Kuwamata Tsunemasa specialised in Bijinga, i.e. paintings of female beauties.

The scene depicts a moment of relaxation, to remain within standards of decency, inside a teahouse.

A courtisan seated behind light mosquito nets watches two other courtesans and their clients outside the veranda.

The bright colours of the kimonos and the balance of the composition are typical of Southeast Asia.

Kikugawa Eizan (1787-1867) “Three Young Women”

Painting on silk - 1810 - Japan

Three Young Women, Ca' Pesaro Museum of Oriental Art in Venice, Italy

Three Young Women Two richly dressed young women are seated on the ground while a third is standing in their midst.

She seems to be whispering something to them, her mouth half hidden by her kimono sleeve, while the other two seem to be listening attentively to her.

One of the seated young women holds a scroll in her hand while the other has her hands entwined and appears to be stretching her arms.

Their hairstyles are particularly elaborate with numerous golden clips used to secure them.

The use of these decorative gold clips is particularly pronounced in relation to the young woman standing.

The clamps are in fact positioned on either side of her head in a symmetrical manner forming the rays of a sun illuminating the ground.

We can also assume that she is a courtesan, as the knot of her kimono belt is positioned on the front, one of the distinctive marks of geisha.

Utagawa Toyokuni II (or Toyoshige) (1786-1864) “The warrior heroine Tomoye on horseback”

Painting on silk, Watercolour (41,7 x 55,5cm) 19th century - Japan

Tomoe Gozen or Tomoye (1157-1247) was a Japanese samurai of many warlike exploits.

The warrior heroine Tomoye on horseback, Ca' Pesaro Museum of Oriental Art in Venice, Italy

The warrior heroine Tomoye on horseback She was renowned for being an excellent archer and horsewoman, but also for her ability to wield Kenjutsu, the samurai sword.

She was highly respected, including by men and was one of the captains of Minamoto no Yoshinaka, general and samurai, whose concubine she also became.

In this painting she flees from Hatakeyama Shigetada during the battle along the Uji River in 1184.

Tomoe Gozen's horse is seen here in full race as Hatakeyama Shigetada, a samurai of the Taira clan, opposed to Minamoto's, whose horse has just been killed by an arrow, attempts to seize Tomoe, but he only succeeds in grabbing one sleeve of his armour and Tomoe Gozen succeeds in escaping.

The dynamics of the battle between the two samurai are particularly well rendered and in their respective attitudes and in the leg movement of the horse.

Utagawa Kunihisa (1832-1891) “Dictation of a letter between two courtesans”

Painting on paper (83 x 32cm) - 19th century - Japan

The courtesan state of the woman standing is established by the long pipe she delicately holds in her right hand and the lacing of the Obi on the front of her kimono.

Dictation of a letter between two courtesans, Ca' Pesaro Oriental Art Museum in Venice, Italy

Dictation of a letter The obi is the belt of the kimono. From a simple rope before the ninth century, it was transformed then into a narrow belt until the Muromachi period (1333-1573) when it became a feminine ornamental accessory by gaining in width.

At this time, women were not allowed to perform in the theatre and it was men who played the female roles.

To distinguish themselves in this capacity, they wore large Obi belts.

At first, the kimono obi was six centimetres wide and nearly two metres long.

The first women to use the obi to close their kimono were the courtesans, the geishas.

Their belts were up to 15 centimetres wide.

Later, as on most paintings depicting courtesans, we could see belts whose width could reach more than 80 centimetres wide, hence those huge knots you can see.

The knot was made on the side, on the front or on the back, but during the Edo period, the knot became a sign of a woman's status.

Single women, widows and courtesans wore it in the front, married women in the back.

This lasted until the end of the 18th century, after which the position of the knot had no more precise meaning.

The courtesan writing the letter under the dictation of the other is crouching.

Beside her can be seen her calligraphy box.

We see her looking back at her companion with a quizzical air in anticipation of what she should add to the letter already begun.

Ippo Shijo (1798-1871) “The samurai Minamoto no Yoshiie hunting”

Painting on silk, Pigments (90,5 x 41,3cm) 17th-19th centuries - Japan

The Samurai Minamoto no Yoshiie hunting, Ca' Pesaro Museum of Oriental Art in Venice, Italy

Minamoto no Yoshiie The Samurai Minamoto no Yoshiie (1039-1106) was a military leader of the Heian period.

He is shown here during a hunting party.

The painter plays on the contrasts between the red of the armour and the horse's blanket, and the black of the boots and mane as well as the horse's tail.

The horse is particularly beautiful, we see its tail in motion while its mane flutters in the wind and its body painted in watercolour is expertly diluted to give it life and realism.

Here we see the hunter with his eyes raised to the sky trying to kill birds with his long arrows.

Hishikawa Moronobu (1618-1694) “Matsukaze, Young woman carrying buckets”

Painting on paper (89 x 30,8cm) 17th century - Japan

The author of this painting, Hishikawa Moronobu, was initially a printer and illustrator who only began painting after 1670.

His favourite themes were then Binjin, female beauties.

Matsukaze, Young woman carrying buckets, Ca' Pesaro Museum of Oriental Art in Venice, Italy

The Young Matsukaze The beautiful and young Matsukaze, the subject of the painting, refers to the story of two sisters, Matsukaze and Murasame who both made a living from fishing and collected brackish water using buckets along the beach at Suna to make salt.

A ninth-century poet and courtier, Ariwara no Yukihira, is forced to live in exile and settles in the bay of Suna where he falls in love with the two sisters and becomes their lover to both for three years.

He finally leaves them, promising to return, but not long after they learn his death and let themselves die of grief.

They then become floating spirits, ghosts, connected to the world of mortals by their guilty attachment to mortal desires, a common theme in the no theatre.

This story inspired one of the most famous dramas, “Matsukaze”, and the famous kabuki dance Shiokumi (The Saltwater Gatherers).

It is one of the most famous plays in the Noh repertoire.

The young woman Matsukaze is often represented, as here, with her headdress.

The young and pretty Matsukaze here carries two buckets filled with salt water to the edge of the sea, on the beach of Suna.

Seated courtesan

Nanei “Seated courtesan”

Painting on paper (173 x 37,5cm)
19th century - Japan

A young courtesan is seated and depicted in an oval.

One of her hands is slipped into her belt kimono obi.

Note that the knot of her obi is made on the front indicating that she was a geisha.

The red contrasts with the black of her hair as well as the white of her skin.

She is holding a roll of paper or cloth in her other hand.

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) “Rokkasen, the six geniuses of poetry”

Rokkasen, the six geniuses of poetry, Ca' Pesaro Museum of Oriental Art in Venice, Italy

Rokkasen, Six Poets Painting on silk (115.5 x 33.8cm) 1815 - Japan

The Rokkasen are the six most celebrated poets of the early Heian period (794-1185).

Katsushika Hokusai depicts them here in a vertical manner.

Among the four represented in our photograph, from top, the poets are as follows:

Ono no Komachi (825-900), Ariwara no Narihira (825-890), Fun'ya no Yasuhide (died 885) and Kisen Hoshi.

Rokkasen, Six Poets The painter depicted these poets by isolating them from each other using opposing diagonals.

Their faces show them lost in thought, imagining or dreaming, the words slowly falling into place.

The painting gives off a impression of calm, of serenity among these poets freed from human concerns, happy poets, they are elsewhere.

The details of the faces of Fun'ya no Yasuhide (second from bottom) and Kisen Hoshi (first from bottom) are particularly revealing of the inner serenity of these poets.

Hirane Yasu (2nd half 19th century) “Women playing with kites”

Women playing with kites, Ca' Pesaro Museum of Oriental Art in Venice, Italy

Women playing with kites Painting on silk (32,7 x 39,2cm) Japan

This scene takes place in the New Year, the time of year can indeed be deduced from the presence of pine branches on the tree on the right.

Next to the women playing with kites is also a seller of love letters.

These love letters are in a lacquer box that he carries attached to the plum tree branch that he carries on his back.

We can also see small strips of paper tied to the branch and on which are probably written words of love.

Nightingale on a cherry tree in blossom, Ca' Pesaro Museum of Oriental Art in Venice, Italy

Nightingale and cherry tree The Japanese woman on the left is in full movement while her baby, carried on her back, seems to be sleeping undisturbed by the play.

Shiokawa Bunrin (1808-1877)
“Nightingale on a cherry blossom tree”

Painting on silk (189 x 48cm) 19th century - Japan

This nightingale on a cherry blossom tree shows great application by the artist in his rendering of the cherry blossoms and their petals.

The nightingale is also very present and in a dynamic attitude.

Young woman with a doll, Ca' Pesaro Museum of Oriental Art in Venice, Italy

Young woman and doll

Doi Yurin (died 1811)
“Young woman with a doll”