Kitano Tsunetomi – The Heroine Umekawa in Meido No Hiyaku

Original woodblock print on Washi paper. This is a first edition from 1923.

Kitano Tsunetomi (1880 – 1947) was a painter and printmaker who specialized in the genre of beautiful woman (bijinga).

The current print, showing the heroine Umekawa as she appears in the kabuki play Meido No Hiyaku (messenger from hell), is probably his most famous. Umekawa is a courtisan in the play and she is seen here as she is fleeing with her customer and lover Chubei, who shortly before embezzled money to buy her free.

It is a print that has many faces, and that can easily be misunderstood. Firstly, because of Kitano Tsunetomi’s typical style, one could confuse it with a hanging scroll painting, in stead of the woodblock print that it is. Secondly, perhaps more so for audiences from the West, Umekawa might seem to have an almost religous appearance, and not that of a courtisan on the run with a lover who just committed a crime. Finally, even with a typical female appearance and female character, the portrait depicted is that of a man and not of a woman, as the female roles in Kabuki plays were portrayed by men as well.

The print is a first edition in very good condition. There are a few imperfections, including some small spots, as is common with these prints. Please see the pictures for this. The snowflakes are all present and in remarkebly good state, without discoloration.

The size of the image within the print is 27.2 * 23.4 cm.

Please note that each print is unique. Since of some prints we have multiple copies, the pictures displayed here can differ slightly from the actual print.

See an overview of Kitano Tsunetomi's woodblock prints