USC Pacific Asia Museum
Pasadena, California 91101
Open Wednesday through Sunday 10am to 6pm


EXHIBITION
Bijinga:
Japanese Paintings of
Beautiful Women

Courtesan Reclining by a Circular Window
after Chobusai Eishi, Japan Meiji period.
Gift of Mr. & Mrs. Gerald Kamansky.
This small exhibit will feature paintings and prints of beautiful
women from the Museum's outstanding collection of Edo period (16001868)
Japanese paintings. Such paintings, known in Japanese as bijinga
(literally, "pictures of beautiful women"), depict courtesans
and other women from the pleasure quarters of Japan's cities. These
women often wore the most elaborate and fashionable kimonos and
hairstyles of the day, the details of which are exquisitely rendered
in pigments on silk and paper.
Artists from various schools, including the Kaigetsudo, Hishikawa
and Hokusai schools, and celebrated artists such as Tohoharu (17631828)
and Eisen (17901848) will be featured in this exhibition.
Many of the paintings and prints exhibited were recently donated
to the Museum in generous gifts from Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Kamansky
and Dr. and Mrs. Jesse L. Greenstein.
Courtesan
and Attendant Watching Butterflies
Chobusai Eishi, Japan, c. 1798
Gift of Mr. & Mrs. Gerald Kamansky