Utamaro is one of the most prominent bijinga ukiyoe artists. He adopted the artistic pseudonym "Utamaro" in the spring of the 1st year of the Tenmei era (1781) with support from Tsutaya. Three years later Utamaro first started to gain recognition after the publication of his 1793 series "Female Geisha Section of the Yoshiwara Niwaka Festival," however it wasn't until the publication of his "Anthology of Poems: The Love Section" and the "Three Beauties of the Present Day" series (both from 1793) that his popularity exploded.
What characterizes Utamaro's style is that even the common prostitutes in his works are depicted with a sense of dignified elegance, in line with the tradition of bijinga.
Utamaro originated the Ōkubie Technique of ukiyoe where the subject's age, their genuine emotions, disposition and other subtle facets are portrayed in the work in great detail. This is best represented by the "Ten Learned Studies of Women" series (1792-3).
Utamaro's admiration for bijinga is seen through his works which offer insight into the personalities and psychological states of his characters.
Even today the name "Utamaro" is celebrated not only in Japan but all throughout the world.
Kitagawa Utamaro [喜多川歌麿](unknown – 1806)
Utamaro, together with Hokusai, Hiroshige and Sharaku, is considered one of the great masters of ukiyoe. He was most active as a bijinga artist during the golden age of ukiyoe. However, we do not know many details about his life. If we presume that Utamaro was born in the 6th year of the Hōreki era, then the 4th year of the An'ei era (1775) was when he got his first job creating a print for the cover of the "Forty-eight Famous Love Scenes" Tomimoto Jōruri playbook, under the name Kitagawa Hōshō. According to the age reckoning system at the time, he would have been 20. As a child he studied under the merchant painter Toriyama Seiken.
In the 1st year of the Tenmei era (1781) he changed his name to Utamaro. After being discovered by the publisher Tsutaya Jūzaburō Utamaro created illustrations and color prints for the Tsutaya-published "yellow-backed novels." At the beginning of the Kansei era Utamaro was already well known as a master bijinga ukiyoe artist thanks to his mesmerizing depictions of respected townswomen as well as red-light district girls.
Around the 5th year of the Kansei era (1793) Utamaro's innovative Ōkubie-style and bijinga depicting the female subject's emotional states have taken Japan by storm. However, with the onset of the Kansei Reforms, the Shirakawa daimyō Matsudaira Sadanobu (1758 – 1829) has prohibited lavishness and instituted mandatory frugality policies. In the 12th year of the Kansei era (1800) the Edo town magistrate has issued a decree officially prohibiting Ōkubie portraits of beautiful women which have brought Utamaro so much success.
Not giving into the constraints of the Kansei Reforms, Utamaro was constantly searching for new forms of expression, but in the 1st year of the Bunka era he was accused of corrupting public morals and, according to some accounts, imprisoned for three days and handcuffed for 50. Two years later on September 20th 1806, Utamaro departed this world, alone, at age 50.
