Utamaro: Beauties, Mica Grounds and the Art of the Close Portrait
Kitagawa Utamaro (about 1753–1806) is the great painter of women in Japanese prints. Earlier artists showed beauties full length, in elegant processions. Utamaro moved in close, cropping his subjects at the shoulders and studying faces, gestures and moods. His prints became the defining image of Edo femininity, both in Japan and, later, in Europe.
Large heads and mica grounds
In the early 1790s, working with the publisher Tsutaya Jūzaburō, Utamaro produced series of ōkubi-e, large-head pictures. Many have backgrounds of powdered mica, kira-zuri, which shimmer as the light changes. Series such as Ten Studies in Female Physiognomy claimed to read character from a face, and they gave each woman a distinct presence rarely seen in earlier prints.
Subjects
- Courtesans and teahouse waitresses. Named beauties of the Yoshiwara and celebrated waitresses whose fame rivalled actors'.
- Everyday life. Women sewing, washing, making up and caring for children, observed with tenderness.
- Nature books. Illustrated books of insects, shells and birds, with poems, show his exacting eye.
Arrest and later years
In 1804 Utamaro was arrested for prints depicting the warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a subject the authorities forbade. He was sentenced to fifty days in manacles and died two years later. After his death a pupil worked under the name Utamaro II, and many prints signed Utamaro come from that later period.
Originals, later editions and reproductions
Because Utamaro has always been in demand, his designs were reprinted, recut and reproduced many times, especially in the Meiji, Taishō and early Shōwa eras. Fine twentieth-century reproductions are attractive in their own right but are worth a fraction of an Edo impression.
- Paper. Edo prints are on soft, fibrous hōsho paper, often with wear at the edges and a slightly uneven surface.
- Seals. Look for the publisher's mark and censorship seals, which changed over time and help date an impression.
- Colour. Vegetable colours, especially purples and blues, fade on old prints. Bright, even colour across the sheet can suggest a later printing.
- Lines. Recut blocks often show stiffer, slightly thicker outlines, particularly in the hair.
- Mica. Real mica glints at an angle. Later reproductions sometimes imitate it with metallic powder.
Condition
Trimmed margins, fading, wormholes, backing and stains are common in prints over two hundred years old. Each affects value, and each should be described. Ask for photographs of the reverse as well as the front, and read our guide to framing Japanese prints before you hang one.