Woman and Child 1803

Kitagawa Utamaro created the woodblock print, Woman and Child, during Japan’s Edo period. During this time, Japan saw a rise in the merchant class and a flowering of urban culture, which supported the development of ukiyo-e prints depicting scenes of everyday life, including the lives of women. Here, we see a woman bending over a well, presumably fetching water for her child. It's tempting to read this image through a contemporary lens, noting the often-unacknowledged labor of motherhood. Utamaro challenges traditional depictions of women by portraying them not as idealized figures but as individuals engaged in daily tasks. The inclusion of the child and the domestic setting speaks to the centrality of women’s roles in maintaining the household. Utamaro seems to find beauty and dignity in the quotidian. Utamaro’s print invites us to consider the diverse experiences of women throughout history, reflecting their strength, resilience, and the often-unseen work that sustains families and communities.