Uemura Shoen Composition of a poem Japanese CC0410 Postcard

Postcard inspired by a delicately beautiful artwork by Japanese artist Uemura Shōen (1875–1949). The painting, titled Composition of a poem (1942), shows a beautiful woman, wearing kimono and a set of hairpins. She's depicted in a traditional Japanese style. Her head is turned sideways, but her gaze seems unfocused and thoughtful. You can easily imagine that she's looking for inspiration for a new poem. In her hands she's holding a pen and a piece of paper. Uemura Shōen (1875–1949) is mostly known for her bijin-ga paintings (approx. paintings of beautiful women). The concept was sometimes criticised for being old-fashioned and outdated, but Uemura Shōen reportedly said that her ambition was not to paint beautiful women, but to make paintings so beautiful that they could be described as precious gems, 'always with a sense of fresh purity'.