Kitagawa utamaro biography templates

Summary of Kitagawa Utamaro

In a relatively short, but prolific, career Utamaro emerged as one of the greatest masters of late eighteenth-century Japanese art. He is associated generally with the Ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") woodblock print technique and he helped define the "golden age" of this centuries-old Japanese artform. Utamaro was, with Hokusai and Hiroshige, one of the three outstanding Ukiyo-e artists of this period. But while his illustrious compatriots gained renown primarily for their landscapes, Utamaro made his name, nationally and internationally, for his slender, graceful, and sensuous, Bijin-ga ("pictures of beautiful women"). His career was not without controversy, and Utamaro's rebellious streak saw him break strict Japanese censorship laws for which he was arrested and punished towards the end of his career. But his ability to portray the personality and private lives of women from all walks of Edo (now Tokyo) life entranced not just Japanes

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