Illustrations of Beautiful Women (Bijin e-zukushi) 1683

Illustrations of Beautiful Women is a woodblock printed book created by Hishikawa Moronobu in Japan during the Edo period. As one of the first ukiyo-e artists, Moronobu helped popularize images of everyday life, particularly the lives of women, in a time of relative peace and economic growth. Here we see two images of the ‘beautiful women’ that define his practice. On the left a woman in elegant dress delicately holds a fan, and on the right we observe a man being attended to by several figures. In this period, women, especially those in the pleasure districts, were tastemakers in society. Prints like these fueled the demand for new fashions and trends, spreading ideals of beauty. Moronobu's work provides us with a window into the social and cultural values of his time. It is a visual record that both reflects and shapes the perception of gender, status, and beauty, inviting us to consider the complexities of representation and the gaze.