The Floating World
Woman Combing Her Hair
髪梳ける女 · Kami sukeru onna
Hashiguchi Goyō · 1920
What it is
A woman in a loose summer robe draws a comb through hair that falls like poured ink — the most celebrated image of shin-hanga’s brief, perfectionist master.
Why it matters
After his one print for Watanabe, Goyō became his own publisher, hiring carvers and printers he supervised to the edge of obsession. He finished only a handful of designs before dying at forty; this is the one by which the movement measures itself.
What to notice
The hair is not one black but several, printed in layers until the block’s ink stands in low relief; against it, the robe is barely two tones and the face a few carved lines.
“Perfection is not more. Perfection is exactly enough.”
The record
- Artist
- Hashiguchi Goyō 橋口五葉 (1880–1921)
- Date
- 1920
- Medium
- woodblock print; ink and color on paper
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons · Hashiguchi Goyo - Woman in Blue Combing Her Hair - Walters 95880.jpg
Impression note. The great mass of hair is built by overprinting sumi; fine impressions keep depth and sheen inside the black rather than a flat silhouette, and the comb’s single line stays needle-sharp. Posthumous printings of Goyō’s designs exist — lifetime sheets were made under his own eye. Impression variance is real — printings differ in wiping and fading — and choosing the finest openly held impression is the curatorial act.
Public domain; faithfully reproduced.
Bring it home
Printed to order on EMA matte art paper, 200gsm.
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