Akizuki Miyuki

Date

1914

Description

Creator of the image: Uemura Shoen
Date of the image creation: 1914
Medium of the image: Colour on silk
Person depicted: Akizuki Miyuki

According to the Adachi Museum of Art where the artwork is housed: ‘The woman in this painting is Akizuki Miyuki, the heroine of the Joruri drama “Sho-utsushi Asagao-banashi”. In this story Miyuki was attacked by a bandit while gazing at fireflies. She was saved by a man named Miyagi Asojiro before the bandit was able to assault her. Then the two fell in love and Asojiro sent Miyuki a fan with poetry written on it expressing his love for her. This painting depicts Miyuki looking at the fan and thinking about her love Asojiro. Miyuki turns around, feeling that somebody is coming and she quickly hides the fan under her sleeve. Her behavior is typical of a young, naïve, woman falling in love. This is one of Shoen’s masterpiece works of the Taisho Era.’

The Japanese painter Uemura Shoen (1875–1949) was born in Kyoto and created many beautiful artworks, mostly about Japanese manners in Kyoto and traditional literature. She painted elegant women using a simple, lean design, filled with bright colours.

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