Shimura Tatsumi – Young Woman with Sleeves

Gouache. The gouache was most likely made circa 1950s-1960s.

The current artwork is a gouache. These are the works of Shimura Tatsumi that inspired the woodblock prints, but no woodblock print is known based on this design.

The gouache shows a young woman, painted in a combination of very modern features and old traditional customs. She has a long, visible neck — a symbol of beauty in earlier eras — and a Yoko-Hyogo hairstyle, already in use during the Edo period, paired with a modern makeup style. Her grey, silver-lined kimono features brown and white plum blossoms and brown and white berries on tiny branches, traditionally worn in January or February. The obi displays an abstract black-and-white pattern.

Image size (excluding margins): 33.0 * 42.0 cm (13.0 * 16.5 in).

The gouache is in very good state. There is an imperfection to the upper left of the woman and a few very faint spots.

The pictures shown here are from the print itself.

See an overview of Shimura Tatsumi's woodblock prints