About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherUniversity of Hawaii Press

ISBN-100824831993

ISBN-139780824831998

eBay Product ID (ePID)60435561

Product Key Features

Number of Pages256 Pages

Publication NameUtamaro and the Spectacle of Beauty

LanguageEnglish

SubjectAsian / General, Asian / Japanese, Anthropology / Cultural & Social, History / General

Publication Year2008

TypeTextbook

AuthorJulie Nelson Davis

Subject AreaArt, Social Science

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height1 in

Item Weight41.7 Oz

Item Length9.9 in

Item Width7.8 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceScholarly & Professional

LCCN2007-009525

Dewey Edition22

IllustratedYes

Dewey Decimal759.952

SynopsisUtamaro reinterprets the famous Japanese artist Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806) in the context of his times. Utamaro became one of the most influential artists working in the genre of ukiyo-e, "the pictures of the floating world," in late eighteenth-century Japan, and was widely appreciated for his prints of beautiful women. By drawing on a wide range of period sources, making a close study of selected print sets, and employing newer approaches in literature, art history, area, and gender studies, Davis reconstructs the place of the ukiyo-e artist within the commercial print market and demonstrates how Utamaro's images participated in a larger spectacle of gender and identity in the city of Edo (present-day Tokyo). Utamaro's authorial persona was defined through the print medium as an "artist" and an expert on women, marketing connoisseurial values for both art and the female body within Edo's entertainment culture. The notorious censorship of Utamaro and his colleagues in 1804 evidences how much this appropriation of cultural authorship also posed a challenge to the political establishment. The book thus offers a new approach to issues of the status of the artist and the construction of gender, identity, sexuality, and celebrity in the Edo period. A significant contribution to the field, this book will be appreciated by readers interested in Japanese arts and cultures, gender and women's studies, and in the broader issues of art history and cultural studies., One of the most influential artists working in the genre of ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") in late-eighteenth-century Japan, Kitagawa Utamaro (1753?-1806) was widely appreciated for his prints of beautiful women. In images showing courtesans, geisha, housewives, and others, Utamaro made the practice of distinguishing social types into a connoisseurial art. In 1804, at the height of his success, Utamaro, along with several colleagues, was manacled and put under house arrest for fifty days for making prints of the military ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi enjoying the pleasures of the "floating world." The event put into stark relief the challenge that popular representation posed to political authority and, according to some sources, may have precipitated Utamaro's sudden decline. In this book Julie Nelson Davis makes a close study of selected print sets, and by drawing on a wide range of period sources reinterprets Utamaro in the context of his times. Reconstructing the place of the ukiyo-e artist within the world of the commercial print market, she demonstrates how Utamaro's images participated in the economies of entertainment and desire in the city of Edo (modern-day Tokyo). Offering a new approach to issues of the status of the artist and the construction of identity, gender, sexuality, and celebrity in the Edo period, Utamaro and the Spectacle of Beauty is a significant contribution to the field and a key work for readers interested in Japanese art and culture., One of the most influential artists working in the genre of ukiyo-e (pictures of the floating world) in late-eighteenth-century Japan, Kitagawa Utamaro (1753?-1806) was widely appreciated for his prints of beautiful women. In images showing courtesans, geisha, housewives, and others, Utamaro made the practice of distinguishing social types into a connoisseurial art. In 1804, at the height of his success, Utamaro, along with several colleagues, was manacled and put under house arrest for fifty days for making prints of the military ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi enjoying the pleasures of the floating world. The event put into stark relief the challenge that popular representation posed to political authority and, according to some sources, may have precipitated Utamaro's sudden decline. In this book Julie Nelson Davis makes a close study of selected print sets, and by drawing on a wide range of period sources reinterprets Utamaro in the context of his times. Reconstructing the place of the ukiyo-e artist within the world of the commercial print market, she demonstrates how Utamaro's images participated in the economies of entertainment and desire in the city of Edo (modern-day Tokyo). Offering a new approach to issues of the status of the artist and the construction of identity, gender, sexuality, and celebrity in the Edo period, Utamaro and the Spectacle of Beauty is a significant contribution to the field and a key work for readers interested in Japanese art and culture.

LC Classification NumberNE1325.K5D38 2007