Utamaro Kitagawa

Kitagawa Utamaro was a Japanese artist and one of the greatest masters of the woodblock print. Active in the late eighteenth century, he became famous above all for his elegant portraits of women, capturing beauties, courtesans, and everyday figures with grace and psychological insight. He favored close-up compositions that focus on the face and expression, which was unusual and striking for his time.

He worked during a golden age of Japanese printmaking and enjoyed great popularity, though he later fell foul of the authorities over one of his subjects. His sensitive images of women influenced later Japanese art and helped shape how the West first saw Japanese prints. Utamaro remains one of the most admired names in the history of the woodblock print.