Synopses & Reviews
Kitagawa Utamaro (1753andndash;1806) was one of the most influential artists working in the genre of
ukiyo-e, or andldquo;pictures of the floating world,andrdquo; in late eighteenth-century Japan. In particular, he was widely appreciated for his prints of beautiful women. In this book, Julie Nelson Davis draws on a wide range of sources and her own sophisticated analysis of his works to reinterpret Utamaro within the context of his times.
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Reconstructing the place of the ukiyo-e artist within the commercial print market of eighteenth-century Japan, Davis situates Utamaroandrsquo;s oeuvre within the artistic culture that surrounded him, demonstrating how his images participated in a larger spectacle of beauty that characterized the city of Edo (present-day Tokyo). Walking the streets of Edo with Utamaro, she follows his life and output up until his arrest for insulting military ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi (for depicting his wife and concubines), which would destroy his career just as it reached its pinnacle. Examining how Utamaro and other artists of his time engaged with the construction of gender, identity, sexuality, and celebrity, Davis makes a larger contribution to art history as a whole.and#160;
Synopsis
Japanese artist Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806) was one of the most influential artists working in the genre of ukiyo-e, and#8220;pictures of the floating world,and#8221; in late eighteenth-century Japan, and was widely appreciated for his prints of beautiful women. In 1804, at the height of his success, Utamaro published a set of prints related to a banned historical novel. The prints, entitled Hideyoshi and his Five Concubines, depicted the military ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshiand#8217;s wife and concubines, and, consequently, he was accused of insulting Hideyoshiand#8217;s dignity. He was sentenced to be handcuffed for 50 days, and was perhaps even briefly imprisoned. According to some sources, the experience crushed him emotionally and ended his career as an artist.
In this book, Julie Nelson Davis draws on a wide range of period sources, makes a close study of selected print sets, and reinterprets Utamaro in the context of his times. Reconstructing the place of the ukiyo-e artist within the commercial print market, she demonstrates how Utamaroand#8217;s images participated in a larger spectacle of beauty in the city of Edo (present-day Tokyo).
About the Author
Julie Nelson Davis is associate professor of East Asian art in the Department of Art History at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of Dramatic Impressions: Japanese Theater Prints from the Gilbert Luber Collection.
Table of Contents
Introduction and#8211; Utamaro,
Ukiyo-e and the City of Prints
1. Constructing the Artist Known as Utamaro
2. and#8216;Pictures of Beautiesand#8217; and Other Social Physiognomies
3. Behind the Brocade and Other Yoshiwara Illusions
4. Utamaro and the Feminine Spectacle
5. Making History into the Pageant of the Floating World
References
Works Cited
Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations
Index