Kitagawa UtamaroJapanese, 1754–1806Mallards and a Kingfisher
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Mallards and a Kingfisher” now? Collection: Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Minneapolis, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
Details
- Accession number
- P.75.51.128
In the catalog
Sources
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Image: Minneapolis Institute of Art — public domain
In the life of Kitagawa Utamaro
The whole lifec. 1783 – 1788
Years in the publisher Tsutaya's house
Probably from 1783, Utamaro lives for about five years in the house of Tsutaya Jūzaburō and becomes one of the principal artists of the Tsutaya firm. Evidence of his prints from these years is sporadic: he mostly illustrates books of kyōka, “crazy verse”, a parody of the classical waka form.
1790–1801
Tightening censorship: seals on prints
From 1790 prints can be sold only with a censor's seal of approval; over the following decades censorship grows stricter, and violators can receive harsh punishments. From 1799 even preliminary drafts need approval, and in 1801 the works of a group of Utagawa-school offenders, including Toyokuni, are repressed.
c. 1791
Giving up book prints for half-length portraits of beauties
Around 1791 Utamaro gives up designing prints for books and concentrates on single portraits of women shown half-length, rather than the group scenes favoured by other ukiyo-e artists. He was the first in Japanese woodblock printing to use half-length compositions for women's portraits; none of his work from 1790–1792 has survived.
