An Oiran Rearranging Her Hair in the Street while a Young Samurai Looks on 1868 - 1912

This woodblock print, made by Okumura Masanobu in the eighteenth century, depicts an oiran, or high-ranking courtesan, adjusting her hair as a samurai looks on. The print is made using multiple blocks of wood, one for each color. The artist would carve the design into the wood, then apply ink to the block and press it onto paper. The lines in this example are crisp, showing the careful handiwork of the artist. Woodblock printing was a labor-intensive process, but it allowed for the mass production of images, which were sold cheaply. This made art accessible to a wider audience and was critical for the expansion of urban consumer culture. The very act of printing these images was a commercial enterprise, with teams of artisans working together to produce each print. Paying attention to materials, making, and context allows us to understand the full meaning of this image, challenging traditional distinctions between fine art and craft.