Utamaro Kitagawa was a ukiyo-e master known for his slender and graceful bijin-ga, or "pictures of beautiful women." By the final decade of the 18th century, artists had shifted away from purely idealized representation to increasingly individualized portraiture. Utamaro led this vanguard within the bijin-ga genre. From courtesans to teahouse waitresses, Utamaro took a psychological approach to his subjects, imbuing his beauties with a subtle sense of personality and emotion. His imagery of the Yoshiwara, Edo’s legalized prostitution district, captured these women’s public personas as models of fashion as well as their private personas through behind-the-scenes glimpses of their lives as individuals.

Born in the mid-1750s, Utamaro studied under the scholar and artist Sekien Toriyama (1712-1788) until Seiken’s death. While the influence of Kiyonaga Torii (1752-1815) coursed through Utamaro's early woodblock prints, his personal style soon asserted itself. Utamaro’s reputation grew steadily throughout the 1780s and 1790s as he refined his style and defined himself as the premier designer of bijin-ga. A prolific artist, he illustrated kyoka poetry albums and ehon (illustrated books), completed elegant paintings, as well as shunga (erotic prints). Around 1791, Utamaro directed his focus to solitary half portraits of women (okubi-e), rather than the full-length, group designs that had historically dominated the bijin-ga genre. In 1804, Utamaro faced legal trouble for his triptychs depicting scenes of the 16th-century military leader Hideyoshi Toyotomi. Though ostensibly historical, these works’ wry allusions to courtesans of the floating world were deemed disrespectful by government censors. Utamaro was imprisoned for a short time. Some believe that this incident broke his spirit, for he died in Edo two years later. Though his style continued directly under students such as Utamaro II and Kikumaro (later Tsukimaro), Utamaro left a profound impact on the bijin-ga genre and would influence artists for centuries to come. This effect was not limited to Japan. During the 19th century, Utamaro's woodblock prints entranced Western artists and collectors. Mary Cassat was particularly taken by Utamaro’s portrayals of motherhood, exclaiming, “you who want to make color prints, you couldn’t imagine anything more beautiful.”[1]

1. Mathews, Nancy Mowll. Mary Cassatt: A Life. New York: Villard, 1994. Print, 194.