. Chats on Japanese prints. is writtenin a squarer, more eompact, and more formal mannerthan the sprawling, cursive signature of his later two long, tail-like lines of the later signature, bywhich even the casual tourist learns to recognizeUtamaros name, are wholly absent. With 1790 begins the classic period of Utamaroswork. This was the year of Kiyonagas retirementand, according to some authorities, of Shunshosdeath. With the two giants of the older generationgone, Utamaro was left to compete for leadershipwith Yeishi, Shuncho, Choki, Toyokuni, and thelesser men. During the decade fr
. Chats on Japanese prints. is writtenin a squarer, more eompact, and more formal mannerthan the sprawling, cursive signature of his later two long, tail-like lines of the later signature, bywhich even the casual tourist learns to recognizeUtamaros name, are wholly absent. With 1790 begins the classic period of Utamaroswork. This was the year of Kiyonagas retirementand, according to some authorities, of Shunshosdeath. With the two giants of the older generationgone, Utamaro was left to compete for leadershipwith Yeishi, Shuncho, Choki, Toyokuni, and thelesser men. During the decade from 1790 to 1800Utamaro was, except for the isolated figure ofSharaku, outstandingly the most versatile andbrilliant among them. All were profoundly in-fluenced by him, and he had not a few imitatorswho attempted to profit by his popularity. During this last decade of the nineteenth centuryUtamaro produced the greatest of his these must be counted the remarkableaeries of half-length figures on silver backgrounds,. UTAMARO ; TWO COURTESANS. One of a Series Beautiful Women compared witli tlie Fifty-three Stations of theToliaido Road, Size 15 x 10. Signed Utamaro, hilsu. Plate 39. FOURTH PERIOD: THE DECADENCE 289 for which no admiration can be too extreme. Oneof them appears in Plate 38. The type of facewhich Utamaro drew in these prints differs fromthe Kiyonaga type ; it has something of the girlish-ness of Harunobu or Sukenobu—wholesome, rounded,with eyes that are large and not narrowed to slitsas in his later years, and with coiffure of modestproportions. It resembles the type characteristicof Choki at this time. These charming figures,drawn with subtle precision, stand against their dullsilver backgrounds in colours whose few and softtones produce an effect so harmonious as to almostjustify Von Seidlitz in calling Utamaro the firstcolourist of his nation. The prints of this classare as rare as they are beautiful. The collector whois familiar with nothing but the l
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidcu3192402333, bookyear1915
