Utagawa Toyoharu

Who was Utagawa Toyoharu?

Utagawa Toyoharu was a Japanese printmaker and founder of the Utagawa school. Born in the Kansai region of Japan, he studied in Kyoto under Tsuruzawa Tangei, a Kanō school painter, before moving to Edo in 1760. There he continued his studies under Toriyama Sekien. Toyoharu played an important role in the development of Ukiyo-e by studying western linear perspective in his Uki-e prints. Engravings after the venetian vedutisti such as Canaletto and Guardi were his primary source of information about perspective. He also reproduced these views of Venice and Rome in full color woodblock prints. His primary innovation, however, was his adaptation of linear perspective to Japanese subject matter.