Kitagawa Utamaro

c. 1753 – 31 October 1806

Kitagawa Utamaro (c. 1753-1806) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist, celebrated as the foremost master of bijin-ga, portraits of beautiful women. His close-up 'large-headed' portraits of courtesans and townswomen were enormously popular in Edo and later strongly influenced European Impressionists.

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Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Kitagawa Utamaro.

Life events

Born, probably in Edo
c. 1753

Utamaro was born around 1753; his birthplace and parentage are not reliably documented, though Edo (modern Tokyo) is most often suggested.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Birth ✓
Studied under the painter Toriyama Sekien
c. 1770

As a youth Utamaro became a pupil of Toriyama Sekien, an artist trained in the Kanō school, who mentored him into adulthood.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Education ✓
Early published work under the name Toyoaki
c. 1775

Utamaro's earliest known professional work, including illustrations and actor prints, appeared in the mid-1770s under the art name Kitagawa Toyoaki.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Career ✓
Began working with publisher Tsutaya Jūzaburō
c. 1783

Around the early 1780s Utamaro formed a close association with the leading publisher Tsutaya Jūzaburō, reportedly living in his house, and adopted the name Utamaro.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Career ✓
Published luxurious illustrated books of nature studies
1788

Utamaro produced acclaimed illustrated poetry books such as the Insect Book (Ehon mushi erami, 1788), demonstrating his skill in naturalistic detail.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Rose to fame with large-headed portraits of beautiful women
c. 1791

In the early 1790s Utamaro won fame with his ōkubi-e (large-headed pictures) of female beauties, a genre he came to dominate.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Arrested and handcuffed for prints depicting Toyotomi Hideyoshi
1804

In 1804 Utamaro was arrested and sentenced to fifty days in handcuffs for publishing prints referencing the sixteenth-century ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a violation of shogunate censorship rules.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Other ✓
Died in Edo
31 October 1806

Utamaro died on 31 October 1806, about two years after his punishment, at around the age of 53.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Death ✓