Woman cutting her toenails
Hashiguchi Goyō captures a surprisingly intimate and unglamorous moment here: a woman in a simple white kimono, hunched over to carefully trim her toenails. Created in October 1920, this piece is a prime example of the Shin-hanga (New Print) movement, which sought to breathe new life into traditional Japanese woodblock printing for a modern audience. Unlike the formal, posed beauties of the past, Goyō focuses on a candid slice of domestic life, using bold, calligraphic black lines to define the heavy folds of her clothing against a muted grey background. It’s a quiet, private scene that feels almost like a snapshot of daily life in the Taisho era.
- Technique
- Woodblock print
- Material
- Paper
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