Kitagawa Utamaro
A central figure in the literary and artistic world of Edo (now Tokyo), Kitagawa Utamaro became one of the most famous creators of ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world").
Art and life were closely intertwined in Yoshiwara, a government-licensed entertainment district on the outskirts of Edo. Ukiyo-e prints played a significant role in publicizing the district's pleasures and promoting the courtesan cult. Dissatisfied with existing styles of depicting female beauty, Utamaro adopted the large-headed representations of actors from the Katsukawa school. His masterpieces are portraits of beautiful women (bijinga), half-length and bust-length, which he began creating in the 1790s. Although his favorite subjects were high-ranking courtesans, he also depicted ordinary street prostitutes, tea house waitresses, geishas, and housewives. Utamaro was known for his inventiveness in arranging his figures within the confines of the paper.
His heroine, Ichikawa, a known beauty, was an ōiran, the highest rank of a courtesan. The whiteness of her complexion, the simple features of her face, and the elaborate hairstyle with a comb and pins highlight the mica background (powdered mica sprinkled on the size of a sheet) that shimmers around her. As Ichikawa raises her hand to show off the bold pattern of a carriage wheel on her kimono, the curved opening of her undergarment reveals her elongated neck, including the seductive edges of her nape, considered an area of great beauty. Ichikawa's two attendants, Mitsumo and Tamamo, are not shown, but their names are engraved in the upper right corner along with the name of the courtesan and her house. Matsuba-ya ("Pine Needle House") was one of the most famous brothels in Yoshiwara.
P.S. Check out more of Utamaro's depictions of Japanese beauties and geishas in our postcard set! I'm sure that you will like our selection of great Japanese artworks. :)
P.P.S. Meet another courtesan immortalized in the ukiyo-e: Hinaaya of the Chōji House. This woodblock print belonged to the Van Gogh brothers!