Frumusetile lui Utamaro

Woman Holding up a Piece of Fabric (Nuno o kazasu onna), c. 1795-96

Woman Holding an Uchiwa

Three girls paddling in a river, from the Fashionable Six Jewelled Rivers, Yamashiro Province, pub. 1790

The Lazybones



Takashima Ohisa, c. 1795

The Greatest Beauties of Our Time (Toji zensei bijin zoroe)- Somenosuke of the Matsubaya with Attendants Wakagi and Wakaba, 1794

The courtesan Imose of the Yoshiwara House Akatsuta-ya parading with her kamuro

Takigawa of the Ogiya

Stylish Amusements of the Four Seasons

Seated woman (O o Tsumu)

Reading a Letter

Print of three women

Pleasure-boating on the Sumida River (Sumidagawa funa-asobi), c. 1788-90

Painting the Lips (Beni-tsuke)

Osome of the Aburaya teahouse

On top and beneath Ryogoku Bridge (Ryogokubashi no ue, shita), c. 1795-6

On top and beneath Ryogoku Bridge (Ryogokubashi no ue, shita), c. 1795-6

Okita of the Naniwa

Obvious Love (Arawaruru koi), from the series -Anthology of Poems The Love Section (Kasen koi no bu), c. 1793-94

Night Rain, c. 1797

Mosquito-net, from the series Model Young Women in Mist (Kasumi-ori musume hinagata) (Kaya), c. 1794-95

Mother and Child

Komurasaki of the Tamaya

Greeting Love Every Night

Hinazuru of the Keizetsuro, from the series Comparing the Charms of Beauties (Bijin kiryo kurabe) (Keizetsuro Hinazuru), c. 1794-5

Hinazuru of the Chojiya, Whose Attendants Are Tsuruji and Tsuruno, from the series Array of Supreme Beauties of the Present Day, 1794

High-ranked Courtesan, from the series Five Shades of Ink in the Northern Quarter (Hokkoku goshiki-zumi) (Oiran), c. 1794-95

Hanamurasaki of the Tamaya, (kamuro Shirabe, Teriha, Flowers from the series Snow, Moon and Flowers in Yoshiwara

Geisha of the West District

Flowers of Edo-Young Woman Chanting to the Samisen

Enjoyable Looks

Courtesans strolling beneath cherry trees

Courtesans Strolling Beneath Cherry Trees Before the Daiko, c.1789

Courtesan in Deshabille from the series Ten Feminine Facial Types

Connoisseurs of Contemporary Manners (Tosei fuzoku tsu The Mansion Style, c. 1800

Bust portrait of the heroine Kioto of the Itoya

Bijin with Samisen

Beauty with Pipe

Ayatsuri moyo take no hitofushi Awa no Naruto

A woman holding a dog in her arms, from Five physiognomies of Beauty, c.1804


A beauty from the tea-house Suminoe in the district of Shiba from a series Comparing the Charms of five Beauties

Ase o fuku onna (woman wiping sweat) - a wood print of a woman wiping sweat from her brow, 1798

Akashi of the Tamaya, from the series Seven Komachis of Yoshiwara (Seiro nana Komachi) (Tamaya uchi Akashi, Uraji, Shimano), c. 1794-95

Cand am vazut prima data un album de Utamaro, acum peste trei decenii, n-am fost prea impresionata. Intre timp, documentandu-ma pt Hokusai, am descoperit un site cu multe picturi de femei japoneze, una mai frumoasa ca alta. Dintre pictori unul mi-a atras atentia prin finetea trasaturilor frumoaselor pictate (bijin=frumoasa in japoneza), anume Utamaro. Am mai publicat deja reproduceri dupa el cand am vorbit despre sericicultura si cand am vorbit despre orele zilei in Orient.

Am inceput sa caut mai multe date despre acest pictor si asa am aflat ca se stiu prea putine date despre viata lui Kitagawa Utamaro, pe numele sau adevarat Ichitaro Kisagawa. Se presupune ca s-a nascut la Edo, se stie ca a fost inca din copilarie elevul pictorului Toriyama Sekien dar ca cel care l-a influientat cel mai mult a fost Kiyonaga.

Talentul sau a fost descoperit de publicistul Tsutaya Juzaburo. Utamaro a produs mai ales Ukiyo-e, gravura japoneza pe blocuri de lemn, o forma populara de arta si a ajuns la o maiestrie deosebita in special in redarea chipurilor de curtezane sau gheishe, mai ales in picturile care se concentreaza asupra fetzei. Mie imi place si felul in care a redat bogatia ornamentala a chimourilor.

De pe blogul unei persoane indragostite de Japonia si de Ukiyo-e, Gina Collia Suzuki, am aflat ca dupa modul cum se leaga obi (un fel de brau), in fata sau in spate, dar si dupa ornamentatia lui, poti sa-ti dai seama daca o persoana portretizata intr-un Ukiyo-e este sau nu prostituata. Atat prosituatele cat si vaduvele isi leaga obi in fata dar ornamentatia (sau lipsa ei) face diferenta.

Ce mai e de remarcat in arta lui Utamaro este faptul ca figurile sale feminine sunt f suple, cu gaturi lungi si corpuri fluide, diferite de tipologia femeii japoneze pe care am intalnit-o pe viu nu numai cand am fost turista in Dublin, Koln sau Paris, recunoascand-o cel mai adesea dupa nelipsitul aparat foto (e drept ca nici mie nu mi-a lipsit acest obiect, si eu sunt romanca get-beget) ci si in Utah, unde chiar am stat de vorba cu vreo cateva. Femeia tipica japoneza e mai degraba scunda, indesata, cu gat scurt si cap rotund.

Pe langa femei el a mai pictat si insecte sau pasari. Totusi un mare necaz l-a lovit in 1804, in momentul in care a ilustrat o carte interzisa, avand ca personaj principal pe shogunul Toyotomi Hideyoshi,care a trait din 1536 pana in 1598, carte intitulata Hideyoshi and his Five Concubines. Pt acest fapt a fost arestat si a fost atat de afectat incat nu si-a mai revenit pana la moartea sa, survenita doi ani mai tarziu.

O lista partiala a seriilor sale de gravuri e data aici:

Chosen Poems (1791-1792)
Ten Types of Women's Physiognomies (1792-1793)
Famous Beauties of Edo (1792-1793)
Ten Learned Studies of Women (1792-1793)
Anthology of Poems: The Love Section (1793-1794)
Snow, Moon and Flowers of the Green Houses (1793-1795)
Array of Supreme Beauties of the Present Day (1794)
Twelve Hours of the Green Houses (1794-1795)
Flourishing Beauties of the Present Day (1795-1797)
An Array of Passionate Lovers (1797-1798)
Ten Forms of Feminine Physiognomy (1802)

Viata lui Utamaro a inspirat si un film de Kenji Mizoguchi, "Utamaro o Meguro Gonin no Onna"("Utamaro si cele 5 femei ale sale") O recenzie f amanuntita (in limba franceza) poate fi gasita aici, iar una mai sumara, in engleza, pe blogul Ginei Collia Suzuki