ōkubi-e (大首絵) (genre )

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Biography:

An ōkubi-e (大首絵), literally "big head picture" is a Japanese portrait print or painting of a head or head and upper torso. Katsukawa Shunkō I (1743–1812) is generally credited with producing the first ōkubi-e. He, along with Katsukawa Shunshō, designed ōkubi-e of male kabuki actors. In the early 1790s, Utamaro designed the first ōkubi-e of beautiful women (bijin-ga ōkubi-e). The shogunate authorities banned ōkubi-e in 1800 because they felt it drew too much attention to certain actors and beauties, but the ban lasted for only about eight years.