UEMURA SHOEN (1875-1949), THE SNOW WOMANBy Uemura Shoen (1875-1949), signed and sealed ShoenJapan, Taisho Era, 1922Color woodblock print on paper. Ink, white gouache and gold paint. Oban-tate format. Signed top right Shoen with artist's seal. Yuki Onna (The Snow Woman), from the play Yuki Onna Gomai Hagoita, adapted from the book Dai Chikamatsu Zenshu (Woodblock Prints depicting Chikamatsu Monyaemon's collected works).Uemura was renowned for her Japanese-style paintings of elegant Kyoto beauties in soft colors. She rarely painted female figures with subdued colors and hollows around their eyes, making “Yuki-onna” an exceptional piece.SIZE of the sheet 43.5 x 28.5 cmCondition: Good impression, color and registration, with slightly trimmed margins and minor creasing along the edges.Provenance: From the private collection of a British artist, formed in the 1990s. Uemura Shoen (1875-1949) was a highly regarded Japanese painter of the Taisho and early Showa periods. She was known for her portraits of women, which often depicted historical figures, literary heroines, and contemporary beauties. Shoen's works were characterized by their meticulous attention to detail and rich, vivid colors. She was also one of the few female artists to achieve widespread recognition in Japan during her lifetime.Museum comparison:An identical print is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston accession number 59.840.