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paperback £22.48
Nezu Press
Paddyfield.com
More reviews by Todd Shimoda
Readers may purchase reviewed books from Paddyfield.com, Asia's online bookseller.North American readers may prefer to buy US editions from Powells.com.
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Utamaro Revealed: A Guide to Subjects, Themes & Motifs by Gina Collia-Suzuki
Of the three most prolific and celebrated Japanese woodblock print artists -- Hokusai (1760-1849), Hiroshige (1797-1858), and Utamaro (1753-1806) -- the least well-known is Utamaro. Gina Collia-Suzuki aims to rectify this in her monograph on Utamaro. It wasn't an easy task as very little reliable biographical information about the artist could be found. That's unfortunate, because Utamaro likely lead a very interesting life based on the subject matter of his work. And that's where Utamaro Revealed shines -- discussing the meaning and pointing out the details of the artist's finest prints. The book is profusely illustrated with black-and-white reproductions (although a few in color would have added to the appreciation of the art), and has several appendices providing more technical details.
Unlike Hokusai and Hiroshige who were primarily known for their landscapes, Utamaro is famous for his portraits of women. The genre is known as bijin-e, pictures of beautiful women. The women he drew were primarily high-class prostitutes who lived in the walled-off and moated red-light district in Edo (Tokyo) known as Yoshiwara. Whether posed in their finery, relaxing in their undergarments, or sometimes attended to by their young servant-apprentices, Utamaro captures their unique and individualistic features with a few simple lines and little perspective. Most of the prostitutes are named, and the prints served as advertisement and pin-up poster of the day. Adding to the description of the art, Collia-Suzuki gives us a concise yet fascinating history of the history and culture of Yoshiwara and the realm of the "floating world" where the prostitutes lived and their clients played.
Beyond the cloistered world of Yoshiwara, Utamaro observed and created several interesting street scenes, including the female store clerks or lower-class street prostitutes who happened to catch his eye. He shows us the entertainment of the day such as sumo and theater, or simple street musicians. Collia-Suzuki gives us her well-informed thoughts on the action in the scenes. These prints and explanations the most captivating, and are windows into the utterly unique world of Edo-period Japan.
Another genre Utamaro is known for are his drawings of insects. These are exquisite and precise renditions of beetles, wasps, caterpillars in their natural settings. As Collia-Suzuki notes, "Never before had the world of insects received such lavish attention." The wonderful prints added greatly to his reputation as one of the best artists of his time.
Utamaro created several prints illustrating the stories of "star- crossed lovers." Typical of these stories, a man and a woman fall in love but because of social or personal constraints can't be together. In the end, they run away and commit double suicide. This heart-felt theme continues today in Japanese literature, theater, film, and television. Collia-Suzuki describes many of the stories Utamaro painted, although they tend to sound the same after a few. Another area Utamaro drew from were legend and myths. In Japan many of these are now forgotten by society at large, so they serve as critical documentation. Again, Collia-Suzuki serves as a thoughtful and interesting guide to the meaning of the work.
Japanese woodblock prints provide us snapshots of history, people, stories, and environment of one of the most interesting periods in not only Japan but the world. Utamaro provides a great percentage of the most important works illustrating that period. When his works made their way to Europe, he and other woodblock print artists influenced European artists hungry for a new way of looking at the world. But Utamaro was not only an observant artist, he was also a thinking artist. Collia-Suzuki tells us he was censured for some of his works critical of the government. A spell in prison may have lead to his poor health and ultimate death.
Todd Shimoda
19/04/2009
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