Editing Utamaro (section)

{{Short description|Japanese artist (1753–1806)}}
{{family name hatnote|Kitagawa|lang=Japanese}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=December 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox artist
| name             = Kitagawa Utamaro
| image            = Kitagawa Utamaro portrait (cropped).jpg
| alt              =
| caption          = Portrait by [[Eishi]], 1815
| native_name      = {{nobold|喜多川 歌麿}}
| native_name_lang = Japanese
| birth_name       = Kitagawa Ichitarō
| birth_date       = {{circa|1753}}
| birth_place      =
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1806|10|31|1753|df=yes}}
| death_place      = [[Edo (Tokyo)|Edo]]
| resting_place    = {{Interlanguage link|Senkōji|ja|3=専光寺 (世田谷区北烏山)}}
| resting_place_coordinates = {{Coord|35|40|47.09|N|139|35|40.71|E|type:landmark|display=inline}}
| style            = [[Ukiyo-e]]
}}
[[File:Ase o fuku onna2.jpg|thumb|''Ase o fuku onna'' (''Woman Wiping Sweat''), [[Ukiyo-e]], 1798]]
[[File:Kitagawa Utamaro - Takashima Ohisa Using Two Mirrors to Observe Her Coiffure Night of the Asakusa Marketing Festival - MFA Boston 21.6410.jpg|thumb|Takashima Ohisa using two mirrors to observe her coiffure]]
{{nihongo|'''Kitagawa Utamaro'''|喜多川 歌麿||{{IPA|ja|ɯ.ta.ma.ɾo}},<ref>{{cite book|script-title=ja:新明解日本語アクセント辞典|edition=2nd|editor-last=Kindaichi|editor-first=Haruhiko|editor-link=Haruhiko Kindaichi|editor-last2=Akinaga|editor-first2=Kazue|publisher=[[Sanseidō]]|date=10 March 2025|language=ja}}</ref> {{circa|1753}}&nbsp;– 31 October 1806}} was a Japanese artist.  He is one of the most highly regarded designers of [[ukiyo-e]] woodblock prints and paintings, and is best known for his ''[[Bijin-ga|bijin]] [[ōkubi-e]]'' "large-headed pictures of beautiful women" of the 1790s.  He also produced nature studies, particularly illustrated books of insects.

Little is known of Utamaro's life.  His work began to appear in the 1770s, and he rose to prominence in the early 1790s with his portraits of beauties with exaggerated, elongated features.  He produced over 2000 known prints and was one of the few ukiyo-e artists to achieve fame throughout Japan in his lifetime.  In 1804 he was arrested and manacled for fifty days for making illegal prints depicting the 16th-century military ruler [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], and died two years later.

Utamaro's work reached Europe in the mid-nineteenth century, where it was very popular, enjoying particular acclaim in France. He influenced the European [[Impressionism|Impressionists]], particularly with his use of partial views and his emphasis on light and shade, which they imitated. The reference to the "Japanese influence" among these artists often refers to the work of Utamaro.