Yamauba with Kintaro Holding a Toy Mask - Kitagawa Utamaro
Archival giclée
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Description
A classic Ukiyo-e woodblock print by Kitagawa Utamaro, depicting the legendary Yamauba and her son Kintaro in a moment of playful domesticity.
This woodblock print by Kitagawa Utamaro depicts the legendary mountain crone, Yamauba, alongside her son, Kintaro. The composition focuses on the intimate interaction between the two figures. Kintaro, the boy hero known for his immense strength, playfully holds a toy mask over his eyes, while Yamauba looks on with a gentle expression. Utamaro is recognised for his mastery of the bijin-ga genre, and here he applies his characteristic focus on psychological depth and refined line work to a mythological subject.
The print demonstrates the artist's ability to balance negative space with the bold, sweeping lines of the figures' hair and garments. The colour palette remains restrained, allowing the viewer to focus on the expressive faces and the subtle textures of the clothing. Utamaro often subverted traditional depictions of folklore, presenting these figures in a domestic, humanised light rather than as distant, mythical entities. The soft, rounded features of Kintaro contrast with the more elongated, elegant profile of Yamauba, a stylistic choice that creates a visual harmony between the two subjects.
Technically, the work displays the precision of the Edo period printmaking process. The registration of the colours is exact, and the ink application shows a high degree of control. This piece belongs to a series exploring the domestic life of the mountain witch, a theme that allowed Utamaro to experiment with unconventional character studies. The print provides an example of how Ukiyo-e artists adapted classical narratives to suit the tastes of the urban population in Edo, blending folklore with the aesthetic sensibilities of the time.
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Because every print is made to order, we don't offer change-of-mind returns, refunds or exchanges. If your order arrives faulty, damaged or incorrect, we'll replace it free of charge — just contact us within 48 hours of delivery. See our refunds page for full details.
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Manufacturing
Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
Care and materials
Specific Features
Every Solis piece is made to order with archival, gallery-quality materials built to last.
- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
- Multiple sizes and framing options available
- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
- Framed prints arrive ready to hang
Care & Cleaning
To keep your artwork looking its best:
- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
- Avoid prolonged direct sunlight
- Never use liquid cleaners on the print or canvas surface
- Keep in a dry, room-temperature space
- Handle prints with clean, dry hands
Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
Yamauba with Kintaro Holding a Toy Mask - Kitagawa Utamaro
Artist Biography
Kitagawa Utamaro
Almost nothing is certain about his early life. He was born around 1753, possibly in Edo, possibly in Kyoto, possibly in Kawagoe. He began publishing prints in the 1770s under the guidance of the publisher Tsutaya Juzaburo, who recognised what Utamaro could do with a portrait of a woman.
What he could do was unprecedented. He invented the okubi-e format: large head-and-shoulders portraits of individual women, mostly from the Yoshiwara pleasure district, printed in close-up with minimal background. Before Utamaro, bijin-ga (pictures of beautiful women) showed groups of figures in full length. He isolated the face, the tilt of the head, the expression. The prints are psychologically specific in a way that had not existed in Japanese printmaking.
He also published books of insect studies and volumes of shunga (erotica), and he made portraits of ordinary town women, not just courtesans. Ohisa and Okita, two shopgirls who appeared in his Three Beauties of the Present Day, became famous across Edo because of his prints. He turned real people into celebrities, which may be the first documented instance of an artist functioning as a kind of media platform.
Tsutaya Juzaburo died in 1797. Utamaro was reportedly devastated. Some critics feel his work never reached the same level afterward. He produced over two thousand prints in his career.
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