Geisha in a Hurry

Catalog note / 解説

Woodblock prints such as this were produced in large numbers in 18th- and 19th-century Japan. This print was published in the early 1800s, by which time the techniques of full-colour printing had been perfected. Prints such as this are sometimes called <i>ukiyo-e</i>, which means 'pictures of the floating world’. This world was one of transient delights and changing fashions centred on the licensed pleasure districts and popular theatres found in the major cities of Japan. In this print, a <i>geisha</i> (entertainer) is pictured as if rushing to keep an appointment. Images of beautiful women like this served as guides to and souvenirs of the faces and changing hair- and dress-styles of the…