ProvenioArt Intelligence
Sign InExplore
tokugawa shogunateedo japan

Kitagawa Utamaro — Ten Studies in Female Physiognomy (Fujin sōgaku jittai), c. 1792–1793

Fujin sōgaku jittai (婦人相学十躰, Ten Studies in Female Physiognomy), c. 1792–1793, by Kitagawa Utamaro (c. 1753–1806). Series of 10 polychrome woodblock prints, ōban format; mica (kira) background. Published by Tsutaya Jūzaburō. The definitive example of Utamaro's okubi-e (large-head close-up) format: ten psychological types of women depicted at bust length on shimmering mica grounds.

Scholarly Significance

Anchor Utamaro's bijin-ga series innovation with Ten Studies in Female Physiognomy — the paradigmatic example of the okubi-e (large-head) format in ukiyo-e.

Notes

  • ·Published by Tsutaya Jūzaburō, Utamaro's primary publisher and supporter.
  • ·The mica (kira) background was applied as a luxury addition; light-shimmering kira grounds were associated with the highest quality prints and increased cost.
  • ·The ten types are named by psychological character: coquette, ardent love, fickle, daydreamer, capricious, realistic, light-hearted, bashful, melancholic, sophisticated.
  • ·The physiognomic framing responds to contemporary European and Chinese physiognomy literature circulating in Edo intellectual culture.
  • ·The okubi-e format allows attention to facial expression and coiffure rather than full-body costume display — a significant generic innovation.
  • ·Monet owned an Utamaro print; the series was known in Paris by the 1880s and influenced Impressionist close-up portraiture.