Description
In Kitagawa Utamaro’s image of Gonpachi and Komurasaki, a standing woman in a dark floral robe appears beside a seated lover in pale and red clothing. A round inset scene occupies the upper left. Identified through the names Gonpachi and Komurasaki, the central pair gain an intimate presence through the contrasting heights and close relation of their neighboring bodies.
Created around 1795, the woodblock print uses ink and color on paper. Utamaro gives the named subject a form suited to close attention rather than requiring a full narrative account. The image’s appeal lies in the meeting of recognizable characters and a particular represented moment. Its title supplies a wider frame, while the print remains an encounter with people placed in relation to one another within the intimate scale of a work on paper.
Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Kitagawa Utamaro collection.
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