Page 155 - 2021 March 16th Japanese and Korean Art, Christie's New York City

133 KITAGAWA UTAMARO (1754-1806)

Abalone diver raped by scaly
river monster (Kappa)

Woodblock print, from the set of twelve erotic
illustrations Utamakura (Poem of the pillow),
published by Tsutaya Juzaburo
Horizontal oban: 9æ x 14¬ in. (24.8 x 37.1 cm.)

$20,000-25,000

The Utamakuraseries is one of Utamaro's early
masterpieces and includes twelve erotic scenes that
range from tender to terrifying. As Richard Lane
observed, Utamaro was not only the artist preeminent of
the demimonde, but also one of the greatest and most
prolific artists of erotica in the long history of Japanese
art. Jack Hillier called this book "The ne plus ultra in
the genre. Every refinement that the block-cutters and
printers could display was demanded of them. A red-
brown outline for features and limbs was used instead
of the customary black; intense attention was given
to the sharpness of the details, whether of features,
hair or dress patterns; an extremely wide range of
pellucid colors was drawn on, with immaculate registry"
(Hillier, The Art of the Japanese Book[London: Sotheby's
Publications, 1987], vol. 1, p. 415).