National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

　This painting depicts a beautiful woman in a yukata (informal cotton kimono) sitting by a lakeside with an uchiwa (a round fan) in her hand. This woman is Taneko Kaneko (later her name was changed to Teruko), who would become the wife of Seiki Kuroda. According to Mrs. Kuroda's recollection, when they visited Hakone, Kuroda asked Teruko to sit for him as he saw her sitting on a rock by Lake Ashi (Ashinoko). Lake Ashi at the time was a popular summer resort among foreigners and this painting was initially titled "Summer Resort."
　Seiki Kuroda is known as a maestro in Japanese oil painting and studied painting in France. After he came back to Japan, he made a big change in Japan's oil painting circles. The bright representation created by changing light and air, which features Kuroda's works, was called "Shinpa" or "Murasakiha" and loved by many people. Kuroda also implemented painting education based on the tradition of Western art, focused on the study of human body and created much controversy over nude paintings.