Reconstructing the place of the ukiyo-e artist within the commercial print market of eighteenth-century Japan, Davis situates Utamaro’s oeuvre within the artistic culture that surrounded him, demonstrating how his images participated in a larger spectacle of beauty that characterized the city of Edo (present-day Tokyo). Walking the streets of Edo with Utamaro, she follows his life and output up until his arrest for insulting military ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi (for depicting his wife and concubines), which would destroy his career just as it reached its pinnacle. Examining how Utamaro and other artists of his time engaged with the construction of gender, identity, sexuality, and celebrity, Davis makes a larger contribution to art history as a whole.
296 pages | 66 color plates, 48 halftones | 7 1/2 x 9 3/4 | © 2007
Reviews
Table of Contents
Introduction – Utamaro, Ukiyo-e and the City of Prints
1. Constructing the Artist Known as Utamaro
2. ‘Pictures of Beauties’ and Other Social Physiognomies
3. Behind the Brocade and Other Yoshiwara Illusions
4. Utamaro and the Feminine Spectacle
5. Making History into the Pageant of the Floating World
References
Works Cited
Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations
Index
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