# Beauty Reading a Letter

- By: Tōensai Kanshi (Japanese, active c. 1751–72)
- Date: c. 1751–72
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: Painting: 86 x 16.4 cm (33 7/8 x 6 7/16 in.); Mounted: 159.4 x 20.3 cm (62 3/4 x 8 in.)
- Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
- Credit line: The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Ellen and Bruce Mavec
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/2026.45)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/cma/2026.45/2026.45_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

A woman sits reading a letter. She has taken her right arm out of her sleeve and presses her hand against her pulse as if to still her excitement at the contents of the missive. Another woman’s silhouette is visible behind her through sliding paper doors. She spies on the first woman by peering through a tear in the paper.