The Six Immortals of Poetry, Abbreviated

Discussion

FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

In this triptych print, the artist expressed appreciation for fine poems of the past by associating them with the three current leading, and possibly most beautiful, courtesans in the Yoshiwara pleasure district. Each of the three panels shows a courtesan with her male guest. In the background are six poems, one by each Immortal. These are inscribed over the style of decorative pattern found on cards used for writing poems. At the right is Narihira’s most famous love poem. A work by Ono no Komachi is on the left.

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