The Ghost of Oyuki
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| The Ghost of Oyuki | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Maruyama Ōkyo |
| Year | 1750 |
| Type | Ink on silk |
The Ghost of Oyuki (お雪の幻, Oyuki no maboroshi) is a painting of a female yūrei, (a traditional Japanese ghost), by Maruyama Ōkyo (1733–1795),[1] founder of the Maruyama-Shijō school of painting.[2]
According to an inscription on the painting, Okyo had a mistress in the Tominaga Geisha house. She died young and Okyo mourned her death. One night her spirit came to him in a dream. Unable to get her image out of his head, he painted this portrait.[3] This is one of the earliest paintings of a yūrei with the basic late-Edo period ghost characteristics: disheveled hair, white kimono, limp hands, nearly transparent, lack of lower body.[4]