Utagawa Kunisada, Catching Fireflies, central sheet of the triptych Stars, 1844

Bijinga (Prints of Beautiful Women)

Japanese woodcuts were deeply rooted in the worldly culture of Edo (modern-day Tokyo), which was characterised by amusement and pleasure. This explains the enormous popularity of prints of idealised women.

Some artists depicted actual courtesans or geishas, complete with their names and a description. Others focused on more generic depictions. With their clothes, gestures and facial expressions, they were the perfect example of the idealised image of femininity at that time.

Van Gogh’s bijinga

Van Gogh was presumably drawn to the depictions of the bijinga. These types of prints made up a large part of his collection. He may have also been attracted to the patterns on their kimonos, and the rich landscapes against which the women were depicted.

Fashion

The artists devoted a great deal of attention to the richly-decorated kimonos, accessories and ingenious hairstyles. The depicted women therefore became style icons in their own right, influencing the fashion of their time.

Utagawa Kunisada, Woman with Latern, right sheet of the triptych The Second Month, from the series Twelve Months of Genji in the Modern Style, 1859 — Utagawa Kunisada, *Woman with Latern, right sheet of the triptych The Second Month, from the series Twelve Months of Genji in the Modern Style*, 1859

Utagawa Kuniyoshi, The Courtesan Chodayū of the Okamotoya House, from the series Series of Beauties from the Green Houses, 1834 — Utagawa Kuniyoshi, *The Courtesan Chodayū of the Okamotoya House, from the series Series of Beauties from the Green Houses*, 1834