Waitress at the Matsu Higashi House, Kitagawa Utamaro, 1795 - 1800
color woodcut, h 377mm × w 250mm More details
Multicolour printing heralded a new high point in Japanese printmaking. One of the most important artists of this period is Utamaro. In this print, he portrayed three women, two of whom can be seen in silhouette, illuminated by an unseen light source behind a sliding paper screen. Utamaro skilfully utilized the natural colour of the unprinted paper to convey the illusion of light.
