Utamaro (1793) Three Beauties of the Present Time, MFAB 21

is a generic term for pictures of beautiful women () in

Japanese art Japanese art covers a wide range of art styles and media, including ancient pottery, sculpture, ink painting and calligraphy on silk and paper, ''ukiyo-e'' paintings and woodblock prints, ceramics, origami, and more recently manga and anime. It ...

, especially in

woodblock printing Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. Each page or image is create ...

of the

ukiyo-e Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surfac ...

genre.

Definition

defines as a picture that simply "emphasizes the beauty of women", and the ''Shincho Encyclopedia of World Art'' defines it as depiction of "the beauty of a woman's appearance". On the other hand, defines as pictures that explore "the inner beauty of women". For this reason, the essence of cannot always be expressed only through the depiction of a , a woman aligning with the beauty image. In fact, in ukiyo-e , it was not considered important that the picture resemble the facial features of the model, and the depiction of women in ukiyo-e is stylized rather than an attempt to create a realistic image; For example, throughout the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

(1603-1867), married women had a custom of shaving their eyebrows (), but in , there was a rule to draw the eyebrows for married women.

History

Ukiyo-e itself is a genre of woodblock prints and paintings that was produced in Japan from the 17th century to the 19th century. The prints were very popular amongst the Japanese

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

s and the

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...

of the time. From the Edo period to the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

(1868-1912), the technical evolution of ukiyo-e processes increased, with the accuracy of carving and printing and the vividness of colors used developing through the introduction of new printing processes and

synthetic dye A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution and ...

s. This technical development can also be seen in ukiyo-e , and many painters of contributed to the evolution of ukiyo-e techniques and styles, with the aim of mazimizing the realistic expression of a real beauty living in the artists' time period. Nearly all ukiyo-e artists produced , as it was one of the central themes of the genre. However, a few, including

Utamaro Kitagawa Utamaro ( ja, 喜多川歌麿; – 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 ōkubi-e'' "large-heade ...

, Suzuki Harunobu, Itō Shinsui,

Toyohara Chikanobu , better known to his contemporaries as , was a Japanese painter and printmaker who was widely regarded as a prolific woodblock artist during the Meiji epoch. Names Chikanobu signed his artwork . This was his . The artist's was ; and it w ...

Uemura Shōen was the pseudonym of an artist in Meiji, Taishō and early Shōwa period Japanese painting. Her real name was Uemura Tsune. Shōen was known primarily for her ''bijin-ga,'' or paintings of beautiful women, in the ''nihonga'' style, although sh ...

and

Torii Kiyonaga Torii Kiyonaga ( ja, 鳥居清長; 1752 – June 28, 1815) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Torii school. Originally Sekiguchi Shinsuke, the son of an Edo bookseller, from Motozaimokuchō Itchōme in Edo, he took on Torii Kiyonaga as a ...

, have been described as the greatest innovators and masters of the form.

Gallery

File:Eisen1.jpg, by

Keisai Eisen Keisai Eisen (渓斎英泉, 1790–1848) was a Japanese ''ukiyo-e'' artist who specialised in ''bijin-ga'' (pictures of beautiful women). His best works, including his ''ōkubi-e'' ("large head pictures"), are considered to be masterpieces of th ...

(1790–1848) File:Suzuki Harunobu - Woman Visiting the Shrine in the Night - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Woman Visiting the Shrine in the Night'' by Suzuki Harunobu (1725–1770) File:Yōshū Chikanobu Shin Bijin 12.jpg, series, No. 12 by

Yōshū Chikanobu , better known to his contemporaries as , was a Japanese painter and printmaker who was widely regarded as a prolific woodblock artist during the Meiji epoch. Names Chikanobu signed his artwork . This was his . The artist's was ; and it w ...

(1838–1912) File:Yoshitoshi - 100 Aspects of the Moon - 11.jpg, ''100 Aspects of the Moon'' by

Yoshitoshi Tsukioka Yoshitoshi ( ja, 月岡芳年; also named Taiso Yoshitoshi ; 30 April 1839 – 9 June 1892) was a Japanese printmaker.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005)"Tsukoka Kōgyō"in ''Japan Encyclopedia,'' p. 10 ...

(1839–1892) File:Brooklyn Museum - Two Women Standing from series "Tosai Yuri Bijin Awase" - Torii Kiyonaga.jpg, ''Two Women Standing'' from the series , by

(1752–1815) File:Getsumei rinka bijin majiru.jpg, Woman with cherry flowers by

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi Tsukioka Yoshitoshi ( ja, 月岡芳年; also named Taiso Yoshitoshi ; 30 April 1839 – 9 June 1892) was a Japanese printmaker. Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005)"Tsukoka Kōgyō"in ''Japan Encyclopedia,'' p. 1000. Yoshitoshi h ...

File:Brooklyn Museum - A Girl About to Despatch a Letter - Torii Kiyomine.jpg, ''A Girl About to Despatch a Letter'', by

Torii Kiyomine A is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred. The presence of a ''torii'' at the entrance is usually the simples ...

(1786–1868) File:Chokosai Eisho, The Courtesan Someyama of the Matsubaya Brothel, Matsubaya Someyama, Contest of Beauties in the Gay Quarters.jpg, ''The Courtesan Someyama of the Matsubaya house'', from the series ''Contest of Beauties in the Gay Quarters'', by Eishosai Choki (active from about 1786 to 1808) File:Murasaki Shikibu 1876.jpg, ''

Murasaki Shikibu was a Japanese novelist, poet and lady-in-waiting at the Imperial court in the Heian period. She is best known as the author of '' The Tale of Genji,'' widely considered to be one of the world's first novels, written in Japanese between abou ...

'', from the series by

(1839–1892) File:Harunobu Bijin sur une véranda.JPG, Woman in the night, by Suzuki Harunobu, File:Kiyonaga bathhouse women-2.jpg, Bathhouse women, by

(1752–1815)

External links

Bijinga artworks

References

Japanese words and phrases Female beauty Ukiyo-e genres Women in art {{printmaking-stub

Definition

History

Gallery

See also

Further reading

External links

References