The Courtesan Nishikigi of the Yotsumeya Brothel, from the series “A Pattern Book of the Year’s First Designs, Fresh as Spring Herbs” (“Hinagata wakana hatsu moyō”)

The Courtesan Nishikigi of the Yotsumeya Brothel, from the series “A Pattern Book of the Year’s First Designs, Fresh as Spring Herbs” (“Hinagata wakana hatsu moyō”)

Isoda Koryūsai

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Koryūsai, who came from an impoverished samurai family, renounced his rank to settle as an artist in Edo. His early work reflected Harunobu's wistful and romantically idealized figures. Later in his career he made a bold series of prints depicting the lavish spring fashions of the demimonde. Nishikigi wears a striking black outer robe decorated with flowering paulownia. Her kosode is patterned with a subtle, resist-dyed bamboo and is tied with a large geometric brocade sash, or obi. Her attendants, or kamuro, in the same costume and pose, wear faded purple robes decorated with hagi, or bush clover, on trellises. The motif of flowers growing on a trellis was a visual reference to the women of the Yoshiwara, who sat behind barred windows displaying themselves to potential customers.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Courtesan Nishikigi of the Yotsumeya Brothel, from the series “A Pattern Book of the Year’s First Designs, Fresh as Spring Herbs” (“Hinagata wakana hatsu moyō”)The Courtesan Nishikigi of the Yotsumeya Brothel, from the series “A Pattern Book of the Year’s First Designs, Fresh as Spring Herbs” (“Hinagata wakana hatsu moyō”)The Courtesan Nishikigi of the Yotsumeya Brothel, from the series “A Pattern Book of the Year’s First Designs, Fresh as Spring Herbs” (“Hinagata wakana hatsu moyō”)The Courtesan Nishikigi of the Yotsumeya Brothel, from the series “A Pattern Book of the Year’s First Designs, Fresh as Spring Herbs” (“Hinagata wakana hatsu moyō”)The Courtesan Nishikigi of the Yotsumeya Brothel, from the series “A Pattern Book of the Year’s First Designs, Fresh as Spring Herbs” (“Hinagata wakana hatsu moyō”)

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.