Utamaro — Selected Works

Towing a Barge in the Snow, from the album The Silver World

Kitagawa Utamaro — 1785

The subtle use of various shades of gray give this print the appearance of a watercolor. The abundance of snow on the bridges, hats, trees, and mountains creates an air of stillness that contrasts with the men laboring against the elements. Text: Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0

Collection: The Art Institute of Chicago · CC0 · Source image ↗

The Flirtatious Type, from Ten Types in the Physiognomy of Women

Kitagawa Utamaro — 1788

Kitagawa Utamaro was well known for his close-up portraits that belonged to a genre, or category, of images called bijinga (pictures of beautiful people). This print is from a series that invites comparisons of the attractiveness of different figures. It comes from a series that assigns personality traits to women based on their physical appearance.

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image ↗

Fishing at Iwaya on Enoshima

Kitagawa Utamaro — 1790

The island Enoshima in Kanagawa prefecture in eastern Japan, near the city of Kamakura, is one home of the goddess Benzaiten, who is associated with water as well as music and entertainment. The island’s Iwaya caves were for centuries a place for meditative retreat, but by the time this scene near their entrance was printed, pilgrimages combining religious sentiment with touristic intent were popular, and remain so today.

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image ↗

Takigawa of the Ōgiya from the series A Selection of Eastern Beauties

Kitagawa Utamaro — 1793

The courtesan Takigawa worked for the Ōgiya, "House of Fans" brothel, one of the most prestigious in the Yoshiwara. Here, she smokes tobacco, a fashionable trend in 18th-century Edo. Fashion-conscious women in Edo purchased prints of the most famous beauties just as contemporary women buy fashion magazines to learn about the latest styles in make-up and hair. The strands of hair at her temple were printed from thin pieces of wood left in relief when the areas on either side of them were carved away.

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image ↗

Women Enjoying the Evening Cool Near Ryogoku Bridge

Kitagawa Utamaro — 1794

People crowding the Ryōgoku Bridge over the Sumida River and those aboard party boats below enjoy summer fireworks. Among a group gathered on the riverbank a little boy stands holding his caged pet cricket in one hand, and a young woman’s hand in the other. At left, a boy with a lantern advertising the name of the restaurant for which he works, “Ōnoshi,” guides two women away.

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image ↗

Net Fishing at Night on the Sumida River

Kitagawa Utamaro — 1795

In this triptych (a composition of three prints), a nighttime drinking party on a pleasure boat is interrupted by an encounter with a fishing boat on the Sumida River in Edo (now Tokyo). A young man in a bold, checked robe distributes lacquer dishes of sake to his female companions, while another man sits on the boat’s roof, peering at the fisherman’s net. The fisherman struggles to control the net as a woman in the party boat offers her sake dish, her robe pulled open at the neck to enjoy the evening cool.

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image ↗

Catching Fireflies

Kitagawa Utamaro — 1796

Caught up in a frenzied pursuit of fireflies, one boy has waded into a stream after his quarry, while a younger one watches in anticipation as a young woman thrusts her fan into the air in the hope of capturing hers. In the center of the composition, a girl examines the insects trapped in her elegantly carved cage.

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image ↗

Chushingura: Act X of The Storehouse of Loyalty

Kitagawa Utamaro — 1797

Stage version: The hero Gohei bravely plants himself on a chest of armor and weapons to prevent government officials from discovering them before they are smuggled out of the house. He holds off the officials by claiming that the chest contains personal belongings of the lady of the house. Exposing these items would bring her humiliation and dishonor. See Chushingura: Perspective Picture for the "Treasure House of Loyalty" ( CMA 1985.338.10 ). Parody print: Utamaro converted this moment of lofty bravery into one of humor. A drunkard guards a cask of sake to prevent the maid from opening it.

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image ↗

Hanaōgi of Ōgiya from the series Picture Puzzles

Kitagawa Utamaro — 1797

In this tricky print, one must decode the small pictures in the rectangle at the upper left corner to learn the identity of the subject of the print: a woman whose name means "Flower Fan," her place of work called the "House of Fans," and what she is doing—emerging from a mosquito net.

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image ↗

Chushingura: Act IX of The Storehouse of Loyalty

Kitagawa Utamaro — 1797

Stage version: In this dramatic scene depicted in Masayoshi’s stage version (see Chushingura: Perspective Picture for the "Treasure House of Loyalty" [1985.338.9]), Tonase prepares to kill her daughter Tonami with her husband’s sword and then to commit suicide. The dire moment results from the humiliating rejection of her daughter’s marriage contract. Fortunately, her husband, Honzo, dressed as an itinerant Buddhist priest, appears just in time to stop the tragedy. Parody print: In the parody print, Utamaro turned this dramatic event into a scene of domesticity in which the mother brushes her daughter’s hair. An itinerant priest, wearing a deep-brimmed basket hat, reads to them from the gate.

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image ↗

Cleaning Combs

Kitagawa Utamaro — 1797

In this print, a mother who has put up her child's hair into a neat bun cleans the comb. By the latter part of the Kansei era, or 1789-1801, Utamaro was frequently incorporating the activities of daily life into his images of beauties. Beyond serving as portraits, and depicting the bonds between mothers and children, the prints also take the view of a detached observer in their representations of everyday settings.

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image ↗

Prayers for Rain, from the series Seven Elegant Komachi

Kitagawa Utamaro — 1797

Seven plays based on legends from the life of 9th-century poet Ono no Komachi served as the source for this print series. In the play, Komachi shelters from the rain under an umbrella held by her servant. In this print, an elegantly coiffed mother and child replace the poet and her servant.

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image ↗

The Courtesan Takigawa of Ogiya (from the series Seven Aspects of Komachi in the Green Houses)

Kitagawa Utamaro — 1797

Takigawa, one of the most famous Yoshiwara courtesans at the Ogiya brothel, is shown here after her bath. Comparing this print with the other portrait of Takigawa by Utamaro (see Woman Drying Her Hands [1930.219]) illustrates how pose, gesture, and clothing can suggest different moods for the same individual.

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image ↗

Scene Adapted from the play The Treasury of Loyal Retainers (Chushingura)

Kitagawa Utamaro — 1797

This is a scene from the most popular work in Japanese theater, The Treasury of Loyal Retainers. A tale of loyalty and revenge, it is based on a historical event that took place during 1701-1703.

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image ↗

Act VII from the series The Storehouse of Loyal Retainers

Kitagawa Utamaro — 1801

This series gives a famous play a humorous spin by altering the setting and some parts of the narrative. Utamaro kept his jokes accessible by picturing the action of the original episode to the side of the main image for easy reference. In this print, a spy reading a letter is turned into a dog; both can be pronounced inu in Japanese. In the stage version of this scene, the loyal samurai Oboshi Yuranosuke reads an important letter relating details of the plot to avenge the unjust death of his master. The spy Kudayu also reads the note as it unrolls beneath the veranda. On the balcony, the jealous courtesan Okaru believes it to be a love letter from a rival. Utamaro transforms the spy/counterspy episode into a humorous scene on a warm night. A beau reads a love letter, its presence disturbing the dog lying underneath the veranda. On the balcony above, a bored courtesan shows no interest in the scene below as she fans herself to keep cool.

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image ↗