Courtesans Parodying Kanzan and Jittoku

Kinpūsha Toyomaro

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

At first glance, the scene appears to simply show two gorgeously garbed and coiffed courtesans in natural poses, one with a brush and paper and one holding a broom as she toys with a hairpin. But things are not always as they seem in such paintings of the pleasure quarters. The juxtaposition of two figures, one with a broom and the other with a handscroll, immediately calls to mind the Zen-painting theme of the madcap monks Kanzan and Jittoku (Chinese: Hanshan and Shide) who lived in Tang China. They had a reputation for rebelling against the conformity of social norms, and Kanzan was famous for his “Cold Mountain” poems. Kinpūsha Toyomaro was a pupil of Kitagawa Utamaro (1753?–1806), who created paintings of female beauties and drew illustrations for popular novels.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art