Lot 3082: Shujo (Melancholy) and Meibo (Clear and Beautiful Eyes) By Kitani Chigusa (1845-1947)

By Kitani Chigusa (1845-1947)
Pair of hanging scrolls; ink and color on silk; signed and sealed Chigusa

With tomobako inscribed Meibo/Shujo, signed and sealed Chigusa
10 1/4 x 9 3/8in (26 x 23.8cm)

Kitani Chiugsa was born in Osaka and, after showing an aptitude for painting, was sent to Seattle at the age of 13 to study Western-style painting for two years. She moved to Tokyo at the age of 18 to study painting with the well-known female painter of women, Ikeda Shonen (1886-1955). After returning to Osaka in 1915, Chigusa entered the studio of Kitano Tsunetomi (1880-1947), and soon after began exhibiting her work in government-sponsored exhibitions including Bunten and Teiten. With an introduction from the renowned painter Takeuchi Seiho (1864-1942) in 1919, Chigusa became a student of the artist Kikuchi Keigetsu (1879-1955). A year later, Chigusa married Kitani Hogin, a scholar of the playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1725), whose influence on the artist may be seen in the kabuki themes that begin to appear in her work around this time. Chigusa was a great advocate for women painters; she founded two all-women painting groups: the Himawarikai in 1925 and the Chigusakai in 1926.

This pair of bust portraits is of particular interest because the women portrayed are from two different eras. The woman on the right is depicted with her hair in the "pulled-down style" (sagegami) and wears a resist-dyed (shibori) robe that was popular in the Kan'ei era (1624-1644). During this period courtesans of the Yoshiwara pleasure district began to be thought of as representatives of fashion and beauty. The woman on the left wears her hair in the elaborate and highly adorned style popular during the Tempo era (1830-1844). These two eras mark the beginning and end of the sophisticated culture of the Yoshiwara, when courtesans were revered for their taste and grace, their beauty and their accomplishments in the arts.