Two Courtesans Chasing Butterflies

Little is known about the life of the early 20th-century painter Tateyama. This painting has all the characteristics of earlier Japanese ukiyo-e art, including a use of rich colors and the careful detailing of clothing and setting. First formulated in the 17th century, this art form focused on transient pleasures of the so-called floating world of prostitution, stage, and other entertainments in the pleasure quarters of Edo (modern-day Tokyo), Osaka, and other major Japanese urban centers.

In such paintings (and highly popular woodblock prints designed by leading ukiyo-e painters) the careful execution of faces, gestures, elegant garments of courtesans and actors, and the use of colorful pigments both attracted customers to the world of paid entertainment and, once purchased, vividly commemorated their visits to the pleasure districts.

This late example presents a common ukiyo-e subject: elegantly dressed girls catching butterflies. Likening the vivacious courtesans-in-training to the graceful fluttering of newly emerged butterflies, such images symbolize a world of fleeting youth and beauty. They also allude more broadly to the frail joys customers sought in the brothels, tea houses, and theaters of the entertainment quarters.