Kitagawa Utamaro

It was Kitagawa Utamaro (1753–1806) who carried forth the style of Kiyonaga in the 1780s and 90s adding to the earlier master’s tall statuesque woman an element of eroticism and an intuitive grasp of feminine style. Utamaro’s earliest prints began to appear around 1776, at which time he used the name Kitagawa Höshö. Most of these early prints are of actors done in the new realistic style of Katsukawa Shunshö. Judging from the dating of his signed prints, he adopted the name Utamaro around 1781. In the 1780s he was influenced by the style of Kiyonaga, the most pervasive artist of the day, and at this time his work often shows a simplicity and directness not to be found later. This is also the time of his famous “Insect Book,” published in 1788, when he was on the threshold of fame. Some critics have noted variations in the style of his signature and often have grouped prints into periods on the basis of signature changes. His signature in the 1780s tends to be plain and box-like. He preferred a more autocratic scrawl in his later years.

In the early 1790s there is a freshness and sweetness in Utamaro’s art that is unmatched by his contemporaries. By the mid-1790s the full maturity of his creative powers can be observed. As C.H. Mitchell suggests, “In almost every respect, Utamaro’s accomplishment of this time surpasses that of his predecessors. His designs have a finer sense of tactile values than any of the earlier ukiyo-e artists.” There is, moreover, a grace which is unmatched even in the finest works of Kiyonaga. Even in the most daring and unexpected compositions there is cohesion. His skill in designing, moreover, is matched by his sense of color. Like Kiyonaga before him, he goes beyond his predecessors and exploits and successfully juxtaposes colors not attempted before.

In the late 1790s his style is furthest removed from that of Kiyonaga. Here is both the climax of Utamaro’s technical inventiveness and his innovations in composition using half and three-quarter length figures are remarkable. While some of the prints are mannered, none lacks excitement. Most of the Academy’s Utamaro holdings were once part of the Chandler Collection, but Mr. Michener continued to search for exceptional works to augment them.

In 1954, Michener remarked: “... From a patient study of the man’s work I am convinced he was an artist of positive genius who attained a higher percentage of successful work than any other in ukiyo-e.” The Michener prints certainly support this view.

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Utamaro owed his greatest artistic debt to Kiyonaga, adding to the tall statuesque bijin style the element of eroticism and an intuitive grasp of the nature of women. Harunobu and Utamaro are generally regarded as the great masters in the portrayal of femininity and love, but their ideals are obviously quite different.

DETAILED DISCUSSION:

The basic source information on the life of Utamaro is found in a collection of notes on the lives and works of ukiyo-e artists written during his lifetime, and surviving in a written copy dating 1831, twenty-five years after his death. We learn from this manuscript that Kitagawa Utamaro was first a pupil of Toriyama Sekien and that he studied the traditional classical school of painting (Kanö) first. Later in his life, he turned to ukiyo-e and lodged with Tsutaya Jüsaburö, a famous publisher of color prints, who published some of his finest color prints. His residence was in Benkei-bashi. The source highly praises Utamaro as the unrivaled artist of the age in the depiction of the prostitute district and beautiful women.

A later record, second only in importance to the above source, provides much greater detail, although none of it can be really confirmed. According to our second source, Utamaro was a native of Kawahoe in the province of Musashi. He died at the age of fifty-three on the third of the fifth month of 1805. Moreover in 1804, he did a print of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and his five concubines that attracted official disapproval and was sentenced to three days in prison followed by fifty days in chains.

Ukiyo-e scholarship is full of problems in separating the kernel of truth from a chaff of unsupported traditions. Utamaro is a case in point. For example, the Senko-ji (temple), where Utamaro's ashes were interred states that he died at fifty-three on the twentieth day of the ninth month, 1806. This record is surely more correct than the much later compilation noted above. Another record, moreover says that he was born in Edo, not Kawagoe, but this seems unlikely based on a comment in the death registry regarding another member of the Utamaro family. This is all that we can obtain from a careful combing of contemporary documents, and we must turn to a study of the art itself, for some glimpse of the artist and his career.

The period from 1776 to 1788:

Utamaro's earliest prints first began to appear around 1776, at which time he used the name Kitagawa Hosho. Most of these early prints are of actors done in the new realistic style of Katsukawa Shunsho. He adopted the name Utamaro around 1781, if we are to judge from the dating of his art during this period of slow development. In the 1780s he was dominated by the style of Kiyonaga, the most persuasive artist of his day. The critic, C.H. Mitchell, has this to say of his art at this time: "This work often shows a simplicity, a directness and a sincerity not always to be found in his later work." This is also the time of his famous "Insect Book" published in 1788, when he was on the threshold of fame. Some critics have noted distinctions in his style of signature and have often grouped prints into periods on the basis of signature changes. His signature in the 1780s tends to be rather plain and box-like while his later signatures are more of an autocratic scrawl.

The period from 1789 to 1792:

Laurence Binyon, one of the finest critics of ukiyo-e England has ever produced, described Utamaro's work of this time as follows: "In these prints there is a freshness and sweetness that is quite delicious ... The Kiyonaga types are here, and the outdoor scene, the sense of fresh air, the landscape setting ... But there is perceptible that genius for design, for relating figures and groups to one another with natural felicity and freshness, in which Utamaro was to excel all his compeers, his predecessors and successors ..."

The period from 1793 to 1796:

We are dealing here with the full blooming of Utamaro's creative powers. C.H. Mitchell puts it this way: "In almost every respect Utamaro's accomplishment here surpasses that of his predecessors. His designing has a finer sense of tactile values than any of the earlier ukiyo-e artists; it has a monumentality which is unmatched, even in the finest work of Kiyonaga. There is a sense of order and cohesion -- of inevitability -- in even his most daring and unexpected designs. The visual intensity is often so strong as to be overpowering. His skill in designing is matched by his skill as a colorist. He exploits and successfully juxtaposes colors never before attempted." We believe that such outstanding works as "Fair Sojourners at an Inn", "Beauties in the Kitchen", "New Patterns on Brocade", and "Six Famous Beauties", all dated to this same time, are real masterpieces, and fully support Mr. Mitchell's praise of our artist.

The period from 1797 to 1800:

Mr. J. Hillier, regarded by many as the greatest English critic of ukiyo-e since Binyon, summarizes the work of this period. "In these years, we witness both the climax of Utamaro's originality as a print-designer, and the beginning of a descent from the pinnacle of his powers. It is the period of what may be regarded as the central series of prints in his mature and most personal style, furthest from Kiyonaga and most early influences, and from the vulgarized parodies of himself found in Eizan and other late plagiarists; the prints which Fenollosa probably thought of as the 'most Utamaro-ish in Utamaro.' His inventiveness and resource in seeding out fresh technical expedients was never higher; his innovations in the compositions involving half- and three quarter-length figures are the cause today of the widest admiration; the woman of the prints become, if anything, more alluring, despite a more obvious mannerism in the treatment of her form."

The period from 1801 to 1806:

In the 1964 Japan Ukiyo-e Society exhibition, "The Work of Utamaro and His Pupils", the following comments were made by the distinguished scholar Shibui Kiyoshi regarding this period: (Translation and adaptation by Ueda Osamu and C.H. Mitchell) "As he approached the end of his life, he was led to an increasingly emotional, atmospheric treatment of women in his works. The esthetic emphasis shifted from the directly visual expression of a refined sensuality to an almost musical expression of mood. Even the titles of his later works sometimes take over the titles of musical pieces, thus giving concrete proof of the increasing absorption of his art in the world of music. One might well see in this the final development in his experiments with the treatment of space." The famous Megane print, one of a series, is typical of his style at the close of his long career. With the publication of some prints which the authorities considered as satirical of the Taiko Hideyoshi, Utamaro was sentenced to three days imprisonment and fifty days in handcuffs. Two years later, in 1806, he died at the age of fifty-three.

Research by: Howard A. Link.