Shamisen Player

Kitagawa Utamaro II 喜多川歌麿 二代目 (died 1831?) · late 18th-early 19th century

Utamaro was one of the most prolific and talented artists of eighteenth-century Japan. His name is synonymous with evocative studies of women of the licensed brothel quarters. Approximately 1,900 woodblock print designs bear his name; his paintings are rarer. This painting was probably done in the final decade of the artist's life.