Who painted 風流七小町通ひ|Young MotHer Nursing Her Baby?

風流七小町通ひ|Young MotHer Nursing Her Baby was painted by Kitagawa Utamaro in 1780.

Where can I see 風流七小町通ひ|Young MotHer Nursing Her Baby?

風流七小町通ひ|Young MotHer Nursing Her Baby is held by Metropolitan Museum of Art.

What movement is 風流七小町通ひ|Young MotHer Nursing Her Baby?

風流七小町通ひ|Young MotHer Nursing Her Baby is associated with Romanticism.

Artwork

風流七小町通ひ|Young MotHer Nursing Her Baby

Kitagawa Utamaro , 1780

風流七小町通ひ|Young MotHer Nursing Her Baby is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Kitagawa Utamaro. It dates from 1780 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Accession no.: JP1671
Credit line: H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929

About this work

Subject & Meaning

The composition pairs the tenderness of maternal nurture with the elegance of an idealized beauty, a hallmark of Kitagawa Utamaro's bijin-ga tradition.

The print depicts a young mother nursing her infant, an intimate domestic scene centered on the act of lactation. The mother is shown with a young child at her breast, while the woman herself is adorned with kanzashi, the decorative hair ornaments characteristic of Edo-period fashion. The composition pairs the tenderness of maternal nurture with the elegance of an idealized beauty, a hallmark of Kitagawa Utamaro's bijin-ga tradition.

In ukiyo-e imagery, the nursing mother often signals themes of fertility, abundance, and the idealized feminine virtues of beauty and devotion. By rendering the subject with refined grooming and graceful posture, Utamaro elevates a private, everyday moment into a poetic vision of womanhood, where maternal care and aesthetic refinement are presented as complementary expressions of feminine ideal.

Technique & Style

This work by Kitagawa Utamaro is executed as a woodblock print utilizing ink and color applied to a paper support. The piece measures 25.4 cm in height and 37.3 cm in width. Stylistically, it belongs to the ukiyo-e genre and depicts a mother nursing her infant, with specific attention given to details such as the kanzashi hair ornament.

The composition focuses on the figures of the woman and child, capturing the intimate act of lactation within the traditional format of Japanese prints.

History & Provenance

The work Young Mother Nursing Her Baby is presently housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. No earlier owners, exhibitions, or transfers are mentioned in the sources, so its provenance before acquisition by the museum is undocumented. The sources also do not record any commission, specific date of creation, or details about the print’s production process.

Consequently, the full ownership chain, commissioning circumstances, dating, and creation history of the piece remain unknown based on the available information.

Context

The work is recognized as a ukiyo-e woodblock print by Kitagawa Utamaro, depicting a mother nursing her infant with attention to maternal details such as lactation and infant adornment like kanzashi. Scholars situate this image within Utamaro's broader exploration of domestic and intimate subjects, particularly his nuanced portrayals of women and childcare in Edo-period visual culture. Its inclusion in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection underscores its significance as part of the global reception and study of Japanese prints, linking it to canonical ukiyo-e genre themes while highlighting maternal subjectivity in pre-modern Japanese art.

Legacy

The work's legacy is anchored in its representation of maternal care within ukiyo-e, influencing later depictions of domestic intimacy in Japanese printmaking. Its presence in major collections such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art underscores its recognized significance in the history of Japanese art.

The piece is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

It was created by Kitagawa Utamaro.

Overview

This woodblock print, created by Kitagawa Utamaro around 1780, is a serene depiction of a tender moment between a mother and her baby.