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婦人相學十躰・浮気之相 / 東京国立博物館

Kitagawa Utamaro

One of the great ukiyo-e painters, responsible for the introduction of large-head portraits. ca. 1753-1806

Kitagawa Utamaro was an ukiyo-e artist of the late Edo period. It is not known where he was born, but leading theories are Edo, Kawagoe, or Kyoto. His surname was originally Kitagawa and his given name was Yusuke or Ichitaro. He at first signed his prints Toyoaki, but later changed this to Utamaro. His haiku name was Sekiyo, and his comic tanka name was Fude no Ayamaru (a slip of the brush).

 

He studied under the ukiyo-e artist Toriyama Sekien and produced paintings for prints of actors and illustrated books. The first work he produced was in 1770. Around 1784 the publisher Tsutaya Juzaburo discovered him and gave him an opportunity to display his talents by making illustrations for books of comic tanka poetry.

 

Early in the Kansei era (1789-1801), he came up with the idea of drawing just the upper portion of a figure and emphasizing expressions and bearing in what are called okubie (large-head portraits). At the time, pictures of tall, slender beautiful women, such as those produced by Torii Kiyonaga, were all the rage, but Utamaro's okubie of beautiful women left a vivid impression on people, and he suddenly became popular.

 

Utamaro published many famous works of okubie of beautiful women, including series of prints such as: "Fujinso gaku jittei" (Ten Studies in Female Physiognomy), "Fujo ninso jippin" (Ten Prints of Women's Physiognomy), and "Musume hidokei" (A Girl's Sundial).

 

In 1804 Utamaro drew Taiko gosai rakuto yukan no zu (Picture of Hideyoshi and His Five Wives Viewing the Cherry Blossoms at Higashiyama), an image with Hideyoshi as its theme, which was banned by bakufu (military government) ordinance. This came to the attention of the bakufu authorities, who punished him by putting him in handcuffs. During his punishment, he died, disappointed.

 

He left a legacy of multicolored woodblock prints, illustrated books, original paintings, and sexually explicit erotic prints, such as the illustrated book Utamakura (Utamaro's Pillow Scenes, the title is a pun, also meaning poetic pillow words).

Related Gallaries

Books

Biographies and critical biographies regarding Utamaro

Related Works

Three Beauties of the Kansei Era (1789-1801)

Ukiyo-e painters who are contemporaries of Utamaro

Past exhibitions

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Institutions Holding Related Materials

  • The National Diet Library (NDL), founded in 1948, is the library which belongs to the Diet. The NDL assists the activities of the National Diet. The Library collects and conserves materials and information both from Japan and abroad, serving as a foundation of knowledge and culture and providing library services to administrative and judicial entities and Japanese citizens.

  • As Japan’s representative museum, Tokyo National Museum collects, preserves, displays, and researches the cultural properties of Asia with a focus on Japan, and also provides educational programs.

  • Kyoto National Museum collects, preserves, displays, researches and provides educational programs focusing on cultural properties from Heian- through to Edo- period Japan, when the capital was located there.

  • 大阪府大阪市中央区にある浮世絵専門の美術館。多数の歌麿作品を所蔵。

  • 鳥取県鳥取市にあるびじゅゆつかん。歌麿の版画作品を展示。

  • 愛媛県大洲市にある資料館。歌麿の版木が展示されている。

  • 東京都墨田区にある博物館の収蔵品データベース。「歌撰戀之部 物思恋」など多数の歌麿作品を見ることができる。

  • 千葉県千葉市にある美術館の収蔵品データベース。肉筆の「納涼美人図」など多数の作品を見ることができる。

  • 江戸時代の浮世絵制作技術を今に伝えるアダチ版画研究所によるサイト。

References

  1. 日立デジタル平凡社,平凡社
  2. 国際浮世絵学会 編,東京堂出版
  3. 平凡社
  4. 安村敏信 著,東京美術