Japanese artist Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806) was one of the most influential artists working in the genre of ukiyo-e, 'the pictures of the floating world', in late eighteenth-century Japan, and was widely appreciated for his prints of beautiful women. Offering a new approach to issues of the status of the artist and the construction of gender, identity, sexuality and celebrity in the Edo period, this book is significant contribution to the field, and will be appreciated by readers interested in Japanese arts and cultures, gender and women's studies, and in the broader issues of art history and cultural studies.