Hashiguchi Goyo (1880-1921) | Woman Combing her Hair (Kami sukeru onna) | Taisho period, early 20th century

Falling in a cascade of tresses, a young woman uses a yellow comb to brush out her long black hair. She wears a yukata patterned with white blossoms of fringed pinks (nadeshiko) on a textured blue ground and tied with a pale rose obi sash. The flowing strokes of the model’s hair is testament to the wood carver’s art: loose strands trail off here and there in delicate flourishes carved with the utmost fluidity of linework.

Here, Goyo reverts to a much-depicted subject of Kitagawa Utamaro (1754-1806), the combing of hair. Goyo intensively studied traditional ukiyo-e, publishing numerous articles and essays on the established Edo period masters. Often renowned for the technical sophistication of his prints, the emphasis is rather on the emotive power of the girl’s loose hair and serene gaze set against the silvery light of the applied mica background.

This portrait of his model Tomi has become one of the most iconic designs in the bijin genre, the Shin Hanga movement, and Japanese woodblock prints overall. 

Similar impressions of the same print are in numerous museum collections, including:

The British Museum, museum number 1930,0910,0.1:

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1930-0910-0-1

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession number 35.1946:

https://collections.mfa.org/objects/247871/woman-in-blue-combing-her-hair?ctx=9e1f9c32-3e56-434d-a0f9-0fab6dda5985&idx=0

The Art Institute of Chicago, reference number 1928.496:

https://www.artic.edu/artworks/60805/woman-combing-her-hair-portrait-of-kodaira-tomi