Kitagawa Utamaro's woman portrait found after 44 years, to be shown at Tokyo Nat'l Museum

The Mainichi

13-05-2025

TOKYO -- A signature piece by famous Japanese artist Kitagawa Utamaro titled "Young Woman Blowing a Glass Pipe (poppin)" was discovered for the first time in 44 years, the Tokyo National Museum in the capital's Ueno district announced on May 12.
Until now, the only known copy of this particular "bijin okubi-e," or portraits of beautiful women, was the one held by the Honolulu Museum of Art in the United States. Young Woman Blowing a Glass Pipe is featured in Utamaro's series "Ten Types in the Physiognomic Study of Women" (Fujin Sogaku Jittei), which was produced by publisher Tsutaya Juzaburo.
The rediscovered work is one of Utamaro's earliest ukiyo-e Japanese woodblock prints and is believed to have been created around 1792 to 1793, during the Kansei era (1789-1801). A nearly identical design later appeared in another series believed to have been produced after this one, titled "Ten Classes of Women's Physiognomy" (Fujo Ninso Jippon). Only a handful of works from both series combined are known to exist worldwide.
According to Kana Murase, a researcher at the Tokyo National Museum, the art piece had been unaccounted for since being sold at an auction in Paris in 1981. Its whereabouts was confirmed this March after information was provided by a Japanese art dealer. The piece had once been part of the collection of Ernest Le Veel, who opened an art gallery in Paris in the late 19th century.
Murase noted, "Its condition is exceptionally good, with vivid colors such as the purple of the kimono, and the sharpness of the outlines is particularly striking."
The work will be on special display starting May 20 as part of the special exhibition "Tsutaya Juzaburo: Creative Visionary of Edo."