Utamaro - Bakin (writing) Utamaro (illustration), A set of 3 Enpon books - Shunga - Ukiyoe Gallery SHUKADO

This is Enpon comprising three books.Batsubun (=postscript) says Kyokutori Shujin. This is the secret penname of Kyokutei Bakin, a play writer known for Chinsetsu Yumiharizuki or Nanso Satomi Hakkenden. Probably, this is the great play writer's one and only Enpon in his life. Providing illustration to the precious story was Kitagawa Utamaro , the pioneer of Onna-e (female pictures). The piece shown was issued in 1800 which fell on Utamaro 's later years, the soft lines and calm composition prove his technique matured. The main character of the story is a couple living in Edo. The wife loves sex too much, so the husband escaped to their second house in Negishi, in addition, the husband's lover and the wife's gigolo show up to make the story messy.

Utamaro
1753-1806
Ukiyoe painter. Also referred to as Hosho, Sekiyo, Mokuen, and many others as Betsugo. “Ukiyoe Ruiko” tells, “He initially became a pupil of Toriyama Sekien to learn the Kano School painting”, but there is no particular proof in the pieces from his early times which could show he had been affected by Sekien, rather his style was close to Katsukawa School. Afterwards, he could be favored with the friendship of Tsutaya Juzaburo, a publisher, to dedicate many drawings for the comic tanka books with multi-color printed pictures issued by the above mentioned publisher. He opened a new frontier with a realistic expression which gradually made him popular. In approx.1891, he released “Bijin Okubie”, a new style beauty. He used Kirazuri (applying a coat of shiny ground mica on top of a background ) or Kitsubushi (yellow ground) to become an important beauty painter.