Artwork Page for Beauty Reading a Letter

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Beauty Reading a Letter

手紙を読む美人図

c. 1751–72

Tōensai Kanshi 東燕斎寛志

(Japanese, active c. 1751–72)
Culture
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
Medium
Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Measurements
Painting: 86 x 16.4 cm (33 7/8 x 6 7/16 in.); Mounted: 159.4 x 20.3 cm (62 3/4 x 8 in.)
Credit Line
The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Ellen and Bruce Mavec 2026.45
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

Kaimami is the Japanese term for viewing someone covertly, often with romantic intent.

Description

A woman sits reading a letter. She has taken her right arm out of her sleeve and presses her hand against her pulse as if to still her excitement at the contents of the missive. Another woman’s silhouette is visible behind her through sliding paper doors. She spies on the first woman by peering through a tear in the paper.
A vertically oriented ink and color hanging scroll depicts a woman sitting on a wooden floor, centered in a dark blue kimono with yellow blossoms. Reading a long paper scroll, she rests before a grid-patterned screen displaying a dark silhouette. To the right, a doorway reveals blue water. In the lower foreground, two textured stones rest on the ground, set against the muted brown tones of the interior.

Beauty Reading a Letter

c. 1751–72

Tōensai Kanshi

(Japanese, active c. 1751–72)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

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