Courtesan and Attendant

Kaigetsudo Ando (active c. 1700-1714) was a Japanese ukiyo-e painter and print designer known for the large-scale paintings of courtesans that are his most distinctive works. Courtesan and Attendant depicts a courtesan with her attendant in the bold, linear manner that distinguishes Kaigetsudo's best work from the more detailed ukiyo-e painting of his contemporaries. The bold outlines and simplified forms of Kaigetsudo's courtesan paintings represent a distinctive moment in ukiyo-e—the moment when the bold, linear manner of early ukiyo-e painting was at its most accomplished, before the more detailed manner of the mid-18th century would become dominant.

Courtesan and Attendant is important in the history of Japanese ukiyo-e because it demonstrates the bold, linear manner that distinguishes Kaigetsudo's best work from the more detailed ukiyo-e of the mid-18th century. Kaigetsudo's large-scale paintings of courtesans represent a distinctive moment in ukiyo-e—the moment when the bold, linear manner of early ukiyo-e painting was at its most accomplished—and his influence on the development of ukiyo-e painting and print design was profound.

Courtesan and Attendant is Kaigetsudo's bold ukiyo-e: a courtesan with her attendant rendered in the bold outlines and simplified forms that distinguish his most distinctive work. The painting represents a distinctive moment in ukiyo-e when the bold, linear manner of early ukiyo-e painting was at its most accomplished, before the more detailed mid-18th century manner became dominant.