Utamaro
Encyclopedia
was a Japan
ese printmaker and painter, who is considered one of the greatest artists of woodblock
prints (ukiyo-e
). His name was romanized
as Outamaro. He is known especially for his masterfully composed studies of women, known as bijinga
. He also produced nature studies, particularly illustrated books of insects.
His work reached Europe
in the mid-nineteenth century, where it was very popular, enjoying particular acclaim in France
. He influenced the European Impressionists
, particularly with his use of partial views and his emphasis on light and shade. The reference to the "Japanese influence" among these artists often refers to the work of Utamaro.
(present-day Tokyo), Kyoto
, or Osaka
, or in a provincial town, in 1753. Another long-standing tradition asserts that he was born in Yoshiwara
, the courtesan district of Edo, being the son of a tea-house owner, but there is no evidence of this. Following the Japanese custom of the time, he changed his name as he became mature, and also took the name, Ichitarō Yusuke.
Despite Kitagawa Utamaro’s success and celebrity status among his own world of popular culture, history of his life and career is insufficient. Apparently, Art Historians faces the facts that there are no contemporary documents to help them certify his date of birth, birthplace, and family background – there have been theories and these are the most accepted – he was born in 1753, probably Edo, and his father was an owner of a Tea-house. Kobayashi wrote, “Kitagawa Utamaro was an outstanding figure in the world of popular art and literature, but that world itself was at the bottom of the social scale. The low status of the ukiyo-e artist meant that the details of his life remain buried in obscurity” (Kobayashi, p 34).
Apparently, Utamaro married, although little is known about his wife and there is no record of their having had children. There are, however, many prints of tender and intimate domestic scenes of the same woman and child over several years of the child's growth among his works.
Generally, it is agreed that while he was still a child, he became a pupil of the painter Toriyama Sekien
. There are many authorities who believe that Utamaro was his son as well. He did live in Sekien's house while he was growing up and the relationship between the two artists continued until Sekien's death in 1788. Sekien originally was trained in the aristocratic Kanō School
of painting, but in middle age he started to lean toward the popular Ukiyo-e
, a genre
of Japanese woodblock prints
. Sekien is known to have had a number of other pupils, who failed to achieve distinction.
At the approximate age of twenty-two, his earliest known major professional artistic work was created, a cover for a Kabuki
playbook in 1775 that was published under a pseudonym
, the gō
of Toyoaki. He then produced a number of actor and warrior prints, along with theatre programmes, and other such materials. From the spring of 1781, he switched his gō to Utamaro, and began painting and designing woodblock prints of women, but these early works are not considered of important value.
At some point in the mid-1780s, probably 1783, he went to live with the young and rising publisher, Tsutaya Jūzaburō
. It is estimated that he lived there for approximately five years. He seems to have become a principal artist for the Tsutaya firm. Evidence of his prints for the next few years is sporadic, as he mostly produced illustrations for books of kyoka, literally 'crazy verse', a parody of the classical waka
form. None of his work produced during the period 1790-1792 has survived.
In about 1791 Utamaro gave up designing prints for books and concentrated on making single portraits of women displayed in half-length, rather than the prints of women in groups favoured by other ukiyo-e artists. In 1793 he achieved recognition as an artist, and his semi-exclusive arrangement with the publisher Tsutaya Jūzaburō was terminated. He then went on to produce several very famous series of works, all featuring women of the Yoshiwara
district.
Over the years, he also occupied himself with a number of volumes of animal, insect, and nature studies and shunga
, or erotica
. Shunga prints were quite acceptable in Japanese culture, not associated with a negative concept of pornography as found in western cultures, but considered rather as a natural aspect of human behavior, and circulated among all levels of Japanese society.
In 1797, Tsutaya Jūzaburō died and apparently, Utamaro was very upset by the loss of his long-time friend and supporter. Some commentators feel that after this event, his work never reached the heights it had previously.
In 1804, at the height of his success, he ran into legal trouble by publishing prints related to a banned historical novel
. The prints, entitled Hideyoshi and his Five Concubines, depicted the wife and concubines of the military ruler, Toyotomi Hideyoshi
, who lived from 1536 to 1598. Consequently, Utamaro was accused of insulting the real Hideyoshi's dignity. He was sentenced to be handcuffed for fifty days (some accounts say he briefly was imprisoned). According to some sources, the experience crushed him emotionally and ended his career as an artist.
He died two years later, on the twentieth day of the ninth month of 1806 (the lunar calendar
date format for October 31), aged about fifty-three, in Edo.
He alone, of his contemporary ukiyo-e artists, achieved a national reputation during his lifetime. His sensuous female beauties generally are considered the finest and most evocative bijinga in all of ukiyo-e. He succeeded in capturing subtle aspects of personality and transient moods of women of all classes, ages, and circumstances. His reputation has remained undiminished since; his work is known worldwide, and he is generally regarded as one of the half-dozen greatest ukiyo-e artists of all time.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese printmaker and painter, who is considered one of the greatest artists of woodblock
Woodcut
Woodcut—occasionally known as xylography—is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges...
prints (ukiyo-e
Ukiyo-e
' is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints and paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries, featuring motifs of landscapes, tales from history, the theatre, and pleasure quarters...
). His name was romanized
Romanization
In linguistics, romanization or latinization is the representation of a written word or spoken speech with the Roman script, or a system for doing so, where the original word or language uses a different writing system . Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written...
as Outamaro. He is known especially for his masterfully composed studies of women, known as bijinga
Bijinga
Bijinga , is a generic term for pictures of beautiful women in Japanese art, especially in woodblock printing of the ukiyo-e genre, which predate photography...
. He also produced nature studies, particularly illustrated books of insects.
His work reached Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in the mid-nineteenth century, where it was very popular, enjoying particular acclaim in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. He influenced the European Impressionists
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
, particularly with his use of partial views and his emphasis on light and shade. The reference to the "Japanese influence" among these artists often refers to the work of Utamaro.
Biography
Kitagawa Ichitarō (later Utamaro) was born either in EdoEdo
, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
(present-day Tokyo), Kyoto
Kyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
, or Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
, or in a provincial town, in 1753. Another long-standing tradition asserts that he was born in Yoshiwara
Yoshiwara
Yoshiwara was a famous Akasen district in Edo, present-day Tōkyō, Japan.In the early 17th century, there was widespread male and female prostitution throughout the cities of Kyoto, Edo, and Osaka. To counter this, an order of Tokugawa Hidetada of the Tokugawa shogunate restricted prostitution to...
, the courtesan district of Edo, being the son of a tea-house owner, but there is no evidence of this. Following the Japanese custom of the time, he changed his name as he became mature, and also took the name, Ichitarō Yusuke.
Despite Kitagawa Utamaro’s success and celebrity status among his own world of popular culture, history of his life and career is insufficient. Apparently, Art Historians faces the facts that there are no contemporary documents to help them certify his date of birth, birthplace, and family background – there have been theories and these are the most accepted – he was born in 1753, probably Edo, and his father was an owner of a Tea-house. Kobayashi wrote, “Kitagawa Utamaro was an outstanding figure in the world of popular art and literature, but that world itself was at the bottom of the social scale. The low status of the ukiyo-e artist meant that the details of his life remain buried in obscurity” (Kobayashi, p 34).
Apparently, Utamaro married, although little is known about his wife and there is no record of their having had children. There are, however, many prints of tender and intimate domestic scenes of the same woman and child over several years of the child's growth among his works.
Generally, it is agreed that while he was still a child, he became a pupil of the painter Toriyama Sekien
Toriyama Sekien
thumb|200px| was an 18th century scholar and ukiyo-e artist of Japanese folklore. He was the teacher of Utamaro and, before taking up printmaking, a painter of the Kanō school. Toriyama is most famous for his attempt to catalogue all species of yōkai in the Hyakki Yakō series.-References:...
. There are many authorities who believe that Utamaro was his son as well. He did live in Sekien's house while he was growing up and the relationship between the two artists continued until Sekien's death in 1788. Sekien originally was trained in the aristocratic Kanō School
Kano school
The ' is one of the most famous schools of Japanese painting. The Kanō school of painting was the dominant style of painting until the Meiji period.It was founded by Kanō Masanobu , a contemporary of Sesshū and student of Shūbun...
of painting, but in middle age he started to lean toward the popular Ukiyo-e
Ukiyo-e
' is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints and paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries, featuring motifs of landscapes, tales from history, the theatre, and pleasure quarters...
, a genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
of Japanese woodblock prints
Woodblock printing in Japan
Woodblock printing in Japan is a technique best known for its use in the ukiyo-e artistic genre; however, it was also used very widely for printing books in the same period. Woodblock printing had been used in China for centuries to print books, long before the advent of movable type, but was only...
. Sekien is known to have had a number of other pupils, who failed to achieve distinction.
At the approximate age of twenty-two, his earliest known major professional artistic work was created, a cover for a Kabuki
Kabuki
is classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...
playbook in 1775 that was published under a pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
, the gō
Art-name
An art-name is a pseudonym, or penname, used by an East Asian artist, which they sometimes change. The word and the idea to use a pseudonym originated from China, then became popular in other East Asian countries ....
of Toyoaki. He then produced a number of actor and warrior prints, along with theatre programmes, and other such materials. From the spring of 1781, he switched his gō to Utamaro, and began painting and designing woodblock prints of women, but these early works are not considered of important value.
At some point in the mid-1780s, probably 1783, he went to live with the young and rising publisher, Tsutaya Jūzaburō
Tsutaya Juzaburo
was the founder and head of the Tsutaya publishing house in Edo period Japan, which produced the ukiyo-e woodblock print works of many of the period's most famous artists, along with illustrated books...
. It is estimated that he lived there for approximately five years. He seems to have become a principal artist for the Tsutaya firm. Evidence of his prints for the next few years is sporadic, as he mostly produced illustrations for books of kyoka, literally 'crazy verse', a parody of the classical waka
Waka (poetry)
Waka or Yamato uta is a genre of classical Japanese verse and one of the major genres of Japanese literature...
form. None of his work produced during the period 1790-1792 has survived.
Yoshiwara
Yoshiwara was a famous Akasen district in Edo, present-day Tōkyō, Japan.In the early 17th century, there was widespread male and female prostitution throughout the cities of Kyoto, Edo, and Osaka. To counter this, an order of Tokugawa Hidetada of the Tokugawa shogunate restricted prostitution to...
district.
Over the years, he also occupied himself with a number of volumes of animal, insect, and nature studies and shunga
Shunga
' is a Japanese term for erotic art. Most shunga are a type of ukiyo-e, usually executed in woodblock print format. While rare, there are extant erotic painted handscrolls which predate the Ukiyo-e movement...
, or erotica
Erotica
Erotica are works of art, including literature, photography, film, sculpture and painting, that deal substantively with erotically stimulating or sexually arousing descriptions...
. Shunga prints were quite acceptable in Japanese culture, not associated with a negative concept of pornography as found in western cultures, but considered rather as a natural aspect of human behavior, and circulated among all levels of Japanese society.
In 1797, Tsutaya Jūzaburō died and apparently, Utamaro was very upset by the loss of his long-time friend and supporter. Some commentators feel that after this event, his work never reached the heights it had previously.
In 1804, at the height of his success, he ran into legal trouble by publishing prints related to a banned historical novel
Historical novel
According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is-Development:An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture.The...
. The prints, entitled Hideyoshi and his Five Concubines, depicted the wife and concubines of the military ruler, Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
was a daimyo warrior, general and politician of the Sengoku period. He unified the political factions of Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, named after Hideyoshi's castle...
, who lived from 1536 to 1598. Consequently, Utamaro was accused of insulting the real Hideyoshi's dignity. He was sentenced to be handcuffed for fifty days (some accounts say he briefly was imprisoned). According to some sources, the experience crushed him emotionally and ended his career as an artist.
He died two years later, on the twentieth day of the ninth month of 1806 (the lunar calendar
Lunar calendar
A lunar calendar is a calendar that is based on cycles of the lunar phase. A common purely lunar calendar is the Islamic calendar or Hijri calendar. A feature of the Islamic calendar is that a year is always 12 months, so the months are not linked with the seasons and drift each solar year by 11 to...
date format for October 31), aged about fifty-three, in Edo.
Pupils
After Utamaro's death, his pupil, Koikawa Shunchō, continued to produce prints in the style of his mentor and took over the gō, Utamaro, until 1820. These prints, produced during that fourteen-year-period as if Utamaro was the artist, now are referred to as the work of Utamaro II. After 1820 Koikawa Shunchō changed his gō to Kitagawa Tetsugorō, producing his subsequent work under that name.Retrospective observations
Utamaro produced over two thousand prints during his working career, along with a number of paintings, surimono, as well as many illustrated books, including over thirty shunga books, albums, and related publications. Among his best known works are the series Ten Studies in Female Physiognomy; A Collection of Reigning Beauties; Great Love Themes of Classical Poetry (sometimes called Women in Love containing individual prints such as Revealed Love and Pensive Love); and Twelve Hours in the Pleasure Quarters.He alone, of his contemporary ukiyo-e artists, achieved a national reputation during his lifetime. His sensuous female beauties generally are considered the finest and most evocative bijinga in all of ukiyo-e. He succeeded in capturing subtle aspects of personality and transient moods of women of all classes, ages, and circumstances. His reputation has remained undiminished since; his work is known worldwide, and he is generally regarded as one of the half-dozen greatest ukiyo-e artists of all time.
Print series
A partial list of his print series and their dates includes- Chosen Poems (1791–1792)
- Ten Types of Women's Physiognomies (1792–1793)
- Famous Beauties of Edo (1792–1793)
- Ten Learned Studies of Women (1792–1793)
- Anthology of Poems: The Love Section (1793–1794)
- Snow, Moon, and Flowers of the Green Houses (1793–1795)
- Array of Supreme Beauties of the Present Day (1794)
- Twelve Hours of the Green Houses (1794–1795)
- Flourishing Beauties of the Present Day (1795–1797)
- An Array of Passionate Lovers (1797–1798)
- Ten Forms of Feminine Physiognomy (1802)
External links
- Kitagawa Utamaro Online
- Utamaro
- (from "Collection of Insects in Pictures")
- Kitagawa Utamaro at Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, Connecticut
- A selection of prints by Kitagawa Utamaro
- Exploring the World of Kitagawa Utamaro
- Utamaro prints in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts
- Utamaro's books in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
