The Artist

Kitagawa Utamaro

Japanese · 1753 - 1806 · Ukiyo-e

Utamaro defined the bijin-ga genre — portraits of beautiful women — and elevated woodblock print to a new psychological depth. His subjects pause mid-gesture, brushing back hair, reading letters, glancing past the viewer; the lines are spare, the moods unmistakable. As prints they read as graphic and intimate at once, equally at home alongside contemporary art or in a quiet corner of a room.