Floating Along in the World of Japanese Prints

Utamaro Revealed - Updated Trailer

 

I thought it was about time that the Utamaro Revealed trailer got a bit of an update, as the old one was put together two years ago, when I didn't really know my way around any sort of presentation software. So, the above video is the result of a day's fiddling with Keynote, which is an incredibly interesting program and one that I am now thoroughly obsessed with.

Was Utamaro Obsessed with Women?

 

Hanamurasaki of the Tamaya, from  An Array of Supreme Beauties of the Present Day (Tōji zensei bijin zoroe), published c.1794 by Wakasaya Yoichi.

An awful lot is made of Utamaro's frequent depiction of women, specifically of his images of women from the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter. The conclusion still drawn by many is that he was thoroughly obsessed with women, particularly ladies of the night, and that he most likely died a worn out old roué. So, is the frequent depiction of these women enough to prove an overwhelming obsession with them? Well, in deciding such a question it rather depends on the existence of freedom to choose a subject on the part of the artist.

One thing to remember is that Utamaro earned a living as an artist. He wasn't a hobbyist, free to paint whatever he liked without the constraints of considering the requirements of a paying publisher and public, so it would be sensible to suppose that his need to earn a living outweighed any personal desire to choose subject matter which pleased him personally. 

Given that an artist, if he wants to get paid, must produce whatever his patron/publisher/public requires, Utamaro's frequent depiction of women suggests only two things: that his public had a taste for images of women and that he possessed a level of skill in depicting them that made the production of such images financially rewarding.

Perhaps it's tempting to portray Utamaro as a womaniser simply because there are so few details available to us regarding his life; maybe there's an urge to flesh him out a bit and make him more human. But it's unwise to draw conclusions in the absence of concrete evidence. We can conclude that he was an immensely talented artist, that he excelled at depictions of the female sex and that his public appreciated his skill. Beyond that, all is conjecture.

Lost Utamaro Paintings Found in a Tochigi Home

 

Two original brush paintings by Kitagawa Utamaro, last seen at an exhibition in 1975, have been rediscovered in a private home in Tochigi, Japan.

The one scroll (see photo to the left), measuring 81 cm by 27.5 cm, depicts Shoki, the legendary demon-queller (a god of the Taoist pantheon who is known as Zhongkui by the Chinese). There are several versions of the story of Zhongkui's transformation from ordinary man to demon-queller. According to one, he was an immensely ugly man and, although he passed the Imperial examination with the highest of honours, the emperor, on seeing him, stripped him of his rank based purely on his appearance. Zhongkui, so angered by this, committed suicide on the palace steps by bashing his skull against the palace gate. Full of remorse, the emperor then returned Zhongkui’s title and gave him the burial of a court official. In return, Zhongkui promised to banish demons for all time.

The other scroll (see photo to the right), measuring 82.3 cm long by 39 cm wide, depicts three of the Seven Gods of Good Fortune (the Shichifukujin), engaged in a bout of Sumō wrestling. Daikoku (on the right), the god associated with wealth and prosperity, is shown wrestling with Hotei (on the left), the god of happiness and contentment. Behind them, Ebisu, the god of commerce, daily food, good luck and fishermen, is standing holding out a fan, acting as the referee for the match. Utamaro produced a number of woodblock prints featuring the Seven Gods of Good Fortune during his working life; they generally involved one or more of these rather cheerful gods having a jolly good time or getting up to mischief.

The paintings, both scroll-mounted ink drawings on paper, have been handed over to the city of Tochigi for safe-keeping and will be put on public display later this year

Photos provided by Tochigi City.