Ono no Komachi Washing the Copybook, from the series The Fashionable Seven Komachi (Furyu nana Komachi)

1783·Color woodblock print; oban·38.4 × 25.7 cm (15 1/8 × 10 1/8 in.)

<p>This series of seven prints, four of which are on display in this gallery, show scenes from the life of the poet Ono no Komachi. Many of these events became the basis of Nō and Kabuki plays and were also popular subjects for visual arts. Each story illustrated in the series is identifiable from a few visual clues. Here three women doing laundry by the river stand in for Komachi; the scene alludes to an incident in which the poet washed a poetry book to wipe away altered text inserted by a rival.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1783
Medium: Color woodblock print; oban
Dimensions: 38.4 × 25.7 cm (15 1/8 × 10 1/8 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Chōbunsai Eishi

Artist

Chōbunsai Eishi

Printmaking

Chōbunsai Eishi was an 18th-century Japanese woodblock print artist and painter known for ukiyo-e works depicting bijin (beautiful women) and kabuki actors. Active during the late Edo period, he developed a refined, elegant style characterized by elongated figures and delicate linear detail. His prints and paintings represent a transition between earlier Edo aesthetics and the more decorative approaches of his contemporaries. This profile will be expanded as more verified source material becomes available.

Full artist profile →