Woman in a Japanese Costume

This drawing combines two of Robert Blum’s artistic interests: Japanese culture and the pastel medium. Like many American and European artists of the late nineteenth century, he incorporated the motifs and aesthetic principles of Japanese art in his work—a phenomenon known as japonisme. Here he captured the intricate folds and patterns of the model’s kimono with soft, feathery strokes of pastel. One contemporary critic compared the sensuous surfaces of Blum’s pastels to “the down on the peach.”