Geisha and companion on a rainy evening

A huge umbrella accentuates the half-length figures of a geisha and her maid carrying a shamisen case. It is night and they walk into the driving rain. The heavy, steady rain is rendered in fine ink lines over the background of darkness, divided by an angular swath of soft light from the lantern.

The Japanese artist Utamaro (1754–1806) was a prolific ukiyo-e artist with a great fascination for beautiful women.