A Beauty
1810
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
About the artist
1810
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
A Beauty is a 1810 unspecified by Fujimaro, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A woman in a red kimono leans against a tree, her face half-hidden by a fan. Nearby, a young man in pale robes stands under a blossoming plum branch. The poem at the top compares mature women to cherry blossoms and young men to plum flowers—both beautiful, just in different ways. This painting comes from Edo’s pleasure districts, where artists often celebrated both courtesans and male entertainers. To see more work like this, look up *japan, edo period (1615–1868)*.
Many ukiyo-e paintings and prints focus on bijin (美人), or “beautiful people.” Female courtesans and entertainers were the main draw in the pleasure district of Edo (now Tokyo), but young men were also available. The poem here reads as follows: "The full blooming cherry / is not the only flower worth mentioning. / The color of the young plum tree / blooms as well." The full blooming cherry is a metaphor for mature women, and the plum for young men.
The handsome youth in the painting is accompanied by a boy carrying a plum branch.
Read the full account in the museum source.
