Three Courtesans 

Curator: This delicate print on paper, held here at the Harvard Art Museums, is titled "Three Courtesans" by Kitagawa Utamaro II. Editor: The colours are really quite striking. They feel subtly subversive somehow, a softness tinged with a slight edginess. Curator: Utamaro was part of the Ukiyo-e movement, which literally translates to 'pictures of the floating world', and often depicted the pleasure districts of Edo period Japan. This piece gives us insight into the world of courtesans. The patterned fabrics and elaborate headdress tell us much about the labor, skill, and materials involved in the production of such images. Editor: Exactly. And prints like these were commodities, weren’t they? Produced and consumed within a very specific social and economic context. The phoenix rising behind the figure serves as an element of social commentary, perhaps? Curator: Perhaps. It serves to suggest the complexities of status and image, reflecting the fluid social boundaries within that period. Editor: It makes you think about the broader role of art within the culture of that era. Curator: Indeed, and how these prints, made for mass consumption, also served to shape perceptions of beauty and desire.