Utamaro Kitagawa << oo tah mah raw kee tah gah wah >> (1753-1806) was a leading Japanese printmaker. He turned public taste in the direction of bold drawing, striking poses, and unusual color contrasts. Utamaro’s beautiful women or pairs of lovers are tall and graceful. He often showed them only from the waist up, and drew faces and hands with great elegance under masses of jet-black hair. Toward the end of his life, Utamaro turned for novelty to exaggerations and distortions, which some of his followers carried even further.
Utamaro’s birthplace is unknown. He died in Edo (now Tokyo) on Oct. 31, 1806.
See also Japanese print (The master print artists).
