Kitagawa Utamaro facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kitagawa Utamaro
Pink Flowers with Butterflies and a Dragonfly woodcut 1788
Born	Kitagawa Ichitarō circa 1753 unknown
Died	31 October 1806 Edo
Resting place	Senkōji [ja]
Nationality	Japanese
Style	Ukiyo-e

Kitagawa Utamaro (c. 1753 - 31 October 1806) was a Japanese artist. He is one of the most highly regarded designers of ukiyo-e woodblock prints and paintings, and is best known for his bijin ōkubi-e "large-headed pictures of beautiful women" of the 1790s. He also produced nature studies, particularly illustrated books of insects.

Little is known of Utamaro's life. His work began to appear in the 1770s, and he rose to prominence in the early 1790s with his portraits of beauties with exaggerated, elongated features. He produced over 2000 known prints and was one of the few ukiyo-e artists to achieve fame throughout Japan in his lifetime. In 1804 he was arrested and manacled for fifty days for making illegal prints depicting the 16th-century military ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Utamaro's 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, which they imitated. The reference to the "Japanese influence" among these artists often refers to the work of Utamaro.

Images for kids

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  Ase o fuku onna (Woman Wiping Sweat), Ukiyo-e, 1798

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  Takashima Ohisa using two mirrors to observe her coiffure

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  Ukiyo-e of yama-uba with blackened teeth and Kintarō (Yamanba and Kintaro Sakazuki series)

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  Flowers of Edo: Young Woman's Narrative Chanting to the Shamisen c. 1803

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  Utamaro's Fukaku Shinobu Koi (c. 1793–94) set an auction record of €745000 in 2016.

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  Katō Kiyomasa at a party with Korean dancers

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  Hideyoshi and his Five Wives Viewing the Cherry-blossoms at Higashiyama

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  Women playing with the mirror, 1797

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  Three Beauties of the Present Day c. 1793

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  Hairdresser from the series Twelve types of women's handicraft

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  Sugatami Shichinin Keshō

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  Woman drinking wine

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  Hari-shigoto ("Needlework"), c. 1794–95

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  Tsuitate no Danjo, c. 1797

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  Mother and Child

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  Young lady blowing on a poppin

See also

In Spanish: Utamaro para niños