Folio from Uta makura (The Poem of the Pillow)Kitagawa Utamaro1788 (Edo Period)The British Muse

Folio from Uta makura (The Poem of the Pillow)
Kitagawa Utamaro
1788 (Edo Period)
The British Museum, London, UK

The album ‘Poem of the Pillow’ is a masterpiece among the erotic works by Utamaro (died 1806), and indeed, among the entire erotica of the Ukiyo-e school.

Utamaro has avoided the stereotypical scenes of love-making that were often produced at the time, and instead created an innovative and powerfully sensual design. He uses a very low viewpoint and places the unusually large figures so that they seem to expand beyond the frame of the picture. The eye is shocked by the white of the woman’s skin against the bright scarlet under-kimono, and the transparency of the gauze fabric that covers the couple’s entwined legs only heightens the sensuousness. Finally, however, the viewer focuses on the heads and shoulders. The details emphasise the emotion of the moment: the man’s eye as he gazes intently at his lover, the tender touch of their delicate fingers and the exquisite nape of the woman’s neck. (britishmuseum.org)