Cleaning Combs
1794
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
About the artist
1794
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleaning Combs is a 1794 by Kitagawa Utamaro, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This painting shows a mother cleaning a comb after styling her child's hair. The scene depicts a quiet moment of daily life, focusing on the bond between mother and child. It's interesting that the artist chose to show a mundane task in a beautiful way. To learn more about the artist's use of light and shadow, look up the technique of chiaroscuro.
In this print, a mother who has put up her child's hair into a neat bun cleans the comb. By the latter part of the Kansei era, or 1789-1801, Utamaro was frequently incorporating the activities of daily life into his images of beauties. Beyond serving as portraits, and depicting the bonds between mothers and children, the prints also take the view of a detached observer in their representations of everyday settings.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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