ABSTRACT
The total number of colour-print artists, from the commencement of the school down to i860, lies between 250 and 300 names. This large number includes artists of varying degrees of ability and productivity and, considering the relatively short life of the school, gives us an idea of its wide popularity; but the number with which the collector need concern himself is considerably less than this total; a collection which contained examples by half this number would be a very large one. Upon the retirement of Kiyonaga from the field of colour-print designing, we enter upon the period of Utamaro and his contemporaries. Utamaro was the son and pupil of Toriyama Sekiyen, a painter of the Chinese School, and was one of the most graceful and popular of the Ukiyoye artists. Utamaro’s signature is one of the first with which a collector will become acquainted, as it is one of the easiest to recognise.
