Yang Kuei Fei
1978
Oda Mayumi Japanese, born 1941
Japan
Yang Kuei Fei was the famous concubine of a Chinese emperor during the Tang dynasty (618–907). The emperor was so madly in love with her that he began ignoring his official duties. But he was forced to execute the beauty after she was blamed for a rebellion engineered by her family.
The black and red in this print express the tension and violence associated with Yang Kuei Fei’s fate. Oda Mayumi is known for creating robust and curvaceous female figures—goddesses or legendary beauties whose strength she endeavors to capture in her depictions of them.
Color woodblock print