Kitagawa Utamaro

Born Kitagawa Ichitarō around 1753, Utamaro became one of the most celebrated ukiyo-e artists, particularly renowned for his woodblock prints depicting beautiful women. His early life remains somewhat mysterious, though he was tutored by the artist Toriyama Sekien, who trained in the elite Kanō school but embraced the popular ukiyo-e style aimed at the common townspeople of Edo. Utamaro's career began to flourish in the 1770s, initially illustrating poetry anthologies and ka…