Title : Beauty with Eyeglasses (descriptive title)

Artist : Toyohara Chikanobu

Date : 1898

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Source : Honolulu Museum of Art
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Description : Chikanobu was an early Meiji (late 19th century) ukiyo-e artist. As its title suggests, this print attempts to depict a new type of woman reflective of Japan’s efforts to modernize itself into an industrial nation on equal status with Europe and the United States. She sits on a Western-style chair, wearing a ring and sporting a Western-inspired hairdo. Most noticeable are her eyeglasses, which make her appear intelligent and fashionable. However, certain characteristics, such as her slanted eyes and the use of flat colors (such as those seen in Edo-period ukiyo-e) mark this as an early transitional work still deeply indebted to ukiyo-e. Many late 19th century Japanese artists struggled to find ways to update and modernize traditional Japanese art, ultimately resulting in the shin hanga and nihonga movements, examples of which can be found nearby in the Robert F. Lange Foundation Gallery of Japanese Woodblock Prints. (“Girl Talk: 20th Century Japanese Prints Depicting Women ” 05/27/2010 - 08/1/2010)

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