Two Beauties ca. 1801-4 Kitagawa Utamaro Japanese Utamaro, the well-known ukiyo-e painter and printmaker, was a disciple of the Kano artist Toriyama Sekien (1712-1788). In this work, a well-dressed girl from a wealthy merchant family is contrasted with a seated woman wearing a simple cotton kimono that is open at the breast. In the Chinese-style couplet inscribed at the upper left by Ubu Kanjin, two butterflies stand in for the two beauties:It is strange how a pair of butterfliesCome fluttering towards me, flyaway, then return.Perhaps they wish to enter throughmy gauze window.It is as if a spring breeze is forcingopen the windowAnd filling the room with the spiritof spring.. Two Beauties 45803