橋口五葉髪梳ける女日本新版画 -6parkbbs.com

HASHIGUCHI, Goyō (橋口五葉;
1880 - 1921) 6park.com

Woman Combing Her Hair (髪梳ける女;
Portrait of Tomi Kodaira; 小平とみ). Woodblock. March,
1920. Published by Yuyudo (悠々洞) in the 1980s. 6park.com

Carver (彫): MAEDA,
Kentaro (前田謙太郎); Printer (摺): ITŌ, Tarō (伊藤太郎). 6park.com

This portrait of
Goyo's favorite model, Tomi Kodaira (小平とみ),
is one of the most well-known and desired prints of the Shin Hanga movement.
The sensuality of the private act of a woman combing her hair attracted artists
across cultures, from Utamaro to Degas. Goyo's intimate portrait of Tomi shows
his vision of the modern bijin-ga (pictures of beautiful women) genre. Her hair
is textured, each strand painstakingly carved. The layer of shimmering mica
lends the work a luminescence, while the blush of pink on her skin and the
folds of fabric on her form give Tomi sense of presence. Goyo completed Woman
Combing Her Hair during his lifetime. 6park.com

Goyō is said to have
liked the lines of the female neck to shoulders as portrayed by Rossetti, and
this picture, too, is found to have influence from Rossetti’s “Lady Lilith”.
However, here Goyō does not allow himself to be entirely lured by that influential
source, rather being persuasive with his own steadfast aesthetics, digesting it
naturally through the carving and printing of traditional woodblock. That pure
expression instead brings to mind the words used by Goyō to describe the
qualities of the beauty of Suzuki Harunobu: “Innocent-like, gentle women who
know no hardships”. Likely a portrait of the ideal woman formed as the result
of trial and error. 6park.com

The silver background,
which at first glance appears to be a light gray, actually contains something
like glitter. This is a technique called kirazuri (雲母摺）, which is a traditional Japanese woodblock
print technique which mica powder is rubbed into the wood. The areas where the
mica is rubbed create a beautiful luster, which greatly enhances the appeal of
the print. In addition, by leaving the background in a single color and not
depicting any personal objects, the beauty of the black hair stands out in the
print. 6park.com