《楊貴妃》は1922年　松園が能や古典文学に深く傾倒していた時期に描かれた異国美人画の傑作である。モチーフは中国・唐代の皇妃「楊貴妃」。白居易の『長恨歌』に登場する玄宗皇帝に寵愛された絶世の美女『楊貴妃』が椅子に腰掛け侍女が背後で身支度を整える場面。湯浴みを終え、なまめかしくも凜とした姿で描かれている。松園が日本女性ではなく異国の美女を描いた数少ない作品のひとつ。正倉院宝物の模造品や中国古画を参考に、衣装や家具の細部まで考証されている。明るく華やかな色彩と、ふくよかな体つきの唐美人像が、松園の新境地を示した作品である。

Yang Guifei (1922)
A radiant new frontier in Shōen’s artistic journey
Painted in 1922, during a period when Shōen Uemura was deeply immersed in Noh theater and classical literature, Yang Guifei stands as a masterful portrayal of an exotic beauty. The subject is the famed consort of Emperor Xuanzong from China’s Tang dynasty, celebrated in Bai Juyi’s epic poem Chang Hen Ge (Song of Everlasting Regret).
The scene depicts Yang Guifei seated as a maid attends to her getting ready after a bath. Her figure is rendered with both sensuality and dignity. This is one of the rare instances where Shōen chose to depict a non-Japanese woman, and she did so with meticulous historical research—drawing inspiration from replicas of Shōsōin treasures and ancient Chinese paintings to refine the details of costume and furnishings.
The painting’s bright, opulent palette and the voluptuous form of the Tang beauty signal a new artistic frontier in her work.