Kitagawa Utamaro

Kitagawa Utamaro was one of the most influential and prolific artists of the ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") movement in late 18th-century Japan. He specialized in bijin-ga ("pictures of beautiful women"), portraying the courtesans, geishas, and ordinary women of Edo with grace, elegance, and sensuality. He also produced nature studies, erotic prints, and illustrated books. He is best known for his ōkubi-e ("large-headed pictures"), which are close-up portraits of women with exaggerated features and expressive emotions. He used innovative techniques to create subtle effects of light, shade, and texture in his prints, and experimented with different formats and perspectives. He was one of the few ukiyo-e artists who achieved fame and recognition throughout Japan in his lifetime. He influenced many other artists, both in Japan and in Europe, where his work was admired by the Impressionists and other modern painters. He was also a rebellious and controversial figure, who challenged the censorship laws of the Tokugawa shogunate and was arrested and punished for his political and erotic prints. He died in 1806, two years after his arrest, and was buried at the Senkō-ji temple in Asakusa, Tokyo.