Young Man Smoking with a Courtesan, Kitagawa Utamaro, 1799
color woodcut, h 253mm × w 382mm More details
This is the prefatory illustration to an album containing twelve shunga (erotic) prints, entitled Negai no itoguchi (The Prelude to Desire). Utamaro's speciality was the depiction of women, especially the courtesans of the Yoshiwara, the regulated pleasure district of the capital Edo (present-day Tokyo). Negai no itoguchi is considered one of Utamaro’s greatest shunga series.
