The series of “Twelve Hours of the Green Houses “(『青楼十二時』, Seiro juniji)

Kitagawa Utamaro (1753?-1806) had won overwhelming popularity by using drawing method called Tajika for beatiful women portrait artworks including “Anthology of love”, “Ten Learned Studies of Women “, and Famous Beauties of Edo”.

 In the mid-1790s, he departed from the techniques that a large image of the upper body of a woman, he drew again creating a picture of a whole figure with “Twelve Hours of the Green Houses ” .

In this work he expressed the courtesans of the Yoshiwara (a red‐light district in Edo Period) for each time of  Japanese former style. The series is made up of 12 pictures, we can see a bell representing time at the top of the picture. And there are plants in the box of the watch attached with the weights under it.

Comparing his famous prints including “Three beauties of the present day” , Utamaro painted the whole model of the art series as the outline of their face and body more slender.

The gallery of “Twelve Hours of the Green Houses “

The mouse hour(子の刻Neno-koku, PM23:00-Am1:00)

The mouse hour

The cow hour(丑の刻, Ushino koku AM1:00-AM3:00)

The cow hour

The tiger hour(寅の刻, Torano koku AM3:00-AM5:00)

The tiger hour

The hare hour(卯の刻, Uno koku AM5:00-AM7:00)

The hare hour

The dragon hour(辰の刻. Tatsuno koku AM7:00-AM9:00)

The dragon hour

The snake hour(巳の刻, Mino koku AM9:00-AM11:00)

The snake hour

The horse hour(午の刻, Umano koku AM11:00-PM1:00)

The horse hour

The sheep hour(未の刻, Hitsujino koku PM1:00-PM3:00)

The sheep hour

The monkey hour(申の刻. Saruno koku PM3:oo-PM5:00)

The monkey hour

The chiken hour(酉の刻, Torhino koku PM5:00-PM7:00)

The chiken hour

The boar hour(亥の刻. Ino koku PM7:00-PM:9:00)

The boar hour

The dog hour(戌の刻, Inuno koku PM9:oo-PM11:00)

The dog hour

See also

 www.masterpiece-of-japanese-culture.com

Kitagawa Utamaro's "Anthology of Poems: The Love Section"

"Anthology of Poems: The Love Section"(歌撰恋之部, Kasen koino-bu)Kitagawa Utamar(1753?-1806) who had become one of the most notable artists in the ukiyo-e world of beautiful women portrait by acquiring a new painting method, published &...

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