Yoshitoshi 芳年: I Really Want to Go to Sleep--Beauty and Her Reflection

Artist: Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 芳年 )1839-1892)
Title:  I Feel Very Sleepy どうもねむつたい)
Series: A Collection of Desires  見立多以尽 (Mitate tai zukushi) Date: 1877

We see a drowsy beauty from both behind and in front, as her visage is shown reflected in a large, shiny black lacquer box at left. The title is “I Really Want to Go to Sleep”--seeing both sides of the beauty lends the work a surprisingly intimate feeling, and the details of her hairstyle are very painstakingly depicted with accuracy. She leans on her elbow but seems to be falling slightly backward as her eyes slowly close. She also seems to be quite pleased with what she sees in her reflection. Yoshitoshi is well-known for his intimate associations with women who worked in the pleasure quarters, and he would have had many opportunities to study their hairstyles from close up.

The long inscription in the background is by the writer Takabatake Ransen, and it invokes the changing seasons and also an association with Nezu’s Yaegaki-cho, a licensed pleasure district. The Nezu pleasure quarter at the time of this print was flourishing, although it was relocated to Susaki in 1888 after Tokyo Imperial University was established nearby in 1877. We can imagine that too many students neglected their studies with such an escape so close at hand.

Condition: Excellent color and condition. Very good impression. One tiny wormhole. Unbacked and untrimmed. With subtle burnishing on the lacquer box.

Dimensions: ôban (35.9 x 24.6 cm) Publisher: Inoue
Literature: Keyes 370.1 Signature: Ôju taiso Yoshitoshi

SKU: YOT957