Utagawa Kunisada (1786 - 1865) (Japanese: 歌川国貞, known as Utagawa Tokokuni III 三代歌川豊国 later in his career) was known in his time as the most popular and successful ukiyo-e designer in Japan, ahead of Kuniyoshi and Hiroshige. His stock declined after he died, and has never recovered to the same levels, although he is still recognized as master of the woodblock print, just not a great one, and is now recovering in esteem somewhat. 1786 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1865 is a common year starting on Sunday. ... Ukiyo-e (Kanji 浮世絵, meaning pictures of the floating world) is the general term for a genre of Japanese woodblock prints produced between the 17th and the 20th century, featuring motifs of landscapes, the theater and pleasure quarters. ... Utagawa Kuniyoshi (Japanese: 歌川国芳) (1798 - 1861) was one of the last great masters of the Japanese woodblock print. ... View of Mount Fuji from Satta Point in the Suruga Bay, woodcut by Hiroshige, published posthumously 1859. ...

Seki Sanjuro II; circa 1818
The colours here are not enhanced, but are exactly those on the actual print; for a print of this age they have somehow been extraordinarily well preserved, showing how colourful these prints actually were when new.

Download high resolution version (709x1018, 137 KB)The Kabuki actor Seki Sanjuro II (?); signed Gototei Kunisada; circa 1818. ... Download high resolution version (709x1018, 137 KB)The Kabuki actor Seki Sanjuro II (?); signed Gototei Kunisada; circa 1818. ...

Biography

He was born in Edo in 1786, and his father (who died a year after Kunisada was born) was an amateur poet of some note. After showing a prediliction for art (copying prints of Kabuki actors), he was accepted as an apprentice in around 1800 by one of the great masters of the Japanese woodblock print, Toyokuni, and became one of his chief pupils, being given the gō (art-name) of Kunisada at that point. Edo (Japanese: 江戸, literally: bay-door, estuary), once also spelled Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo. ... The Kabukiza in Ginza is one of Tokyos leading kabuki theaters. ... 1800 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Utagawa Toyokuni (1769 - 1825) (Japanese: 歌川豐國), also often referred to as Toyokuni I, to distinguish him from the members of his school who took over his gō (art-name) after he died was a great master of the Japanese woodblock print, known in particular for his Kabuki actor prints. ... An art-name (in Japanese, gō) is a pseudonym, or penname, used by an Japanese artist, which they sometimes change. ...

He started out doing actor prints, an initial specialty of the Utagawa school, but soon branched out into bijin-ga. He also produced some landscapes and warrior prints, but although his early work in these areas showed promise, he never made many. Apparently he did produce a fair amount of shunga prior to the Tenpo reforms of 1842. The Utagawa school was a group of Japanese woodblock print artists, founded by Toyoharu. ... Before the Mirror by Shinsui Ito is an example of bijin-ga in the shin hanga style. ... For other uses of the term Shunga see Shunga (disambiguation) Shunga ((春画) is a Japanese term for erotic pictures. ... Tempō (天保) was a Japanese era after Bunsei and before Kōka and spanned from December 10 (?), 1830 to December 2 (?), 1844. ...

Onoe Kikugoro III; circa 1830

In 1844 - 1845, Kunisada changed his art-name, taking the name of his master Toyokuni; he is now referred to Toyokuni III (Toyokuni II being Toyoshige, another Toyokuni pupil who had taken over as head of the Utagawa school after the death of Toyokuni in 1825. During this brief transitional period Kunisada signed many of his prints "Kunisada becoming Toyokuni II", an intentional snub of Toyoshige whom he believed had usurped his rightful position as head of the school. Download high resolution version (660x1015, 119 KB)The Kabuki actor Onoe Kikugoro III (1784-1849), from the series Tosei Haiyu Kaoribako (Incense Boxes and Actors of the Current Age); signed Kochoro Kunisada; circa 1830. ... Download high resolution version (660x1015, 119 KB)The Kabuki actor Onoe Kikugoro III (1784-1849), from the series Tosei Haiyu Kaoribako (Incense Boxes and Actors of the Current Age); signed Kochoro Kunisada; circa 1830. ... An art-name (in Japanese, gō) is a pseudonym, or penname, used by an Japanese artist, which they sometimes change. ... Utagawa Toyokuni (1769 - 1825) (Japanese: 歌川豐國), also often referred to as Toyokuni I, to distinguish him from the members of his school who took over his gō (art-name) after he died was a great master of the Japanese woodblock print, known in particular for his Kabuki actor prints. ...

He occasionally collaborated with Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi on print series during the late 1840s and 1850s, a period of expansion when woodblock prints were in high demand in Japan. At this point he was at the height of his career and dominated the market for kabuki, actor, and Genji prints, while also producing a significant proportion of the bijin-ga and sumo-e. During his lifetime, he produced a vast number of prints estimated by some sources to be more than 20,000. View of Mount Fuji from Satta Point in the Suruga Bay, woodcut by Hiroshige, published posthumously 1859. ... Utagawa Kuniyoshi (Japanese: 歌川国芳) (1798 - 1861) was one of the last great masters of the Japanese woodblock print. ... // Events and Trends Technology First use of anaesthesia in an operation, by Crawford Long War, peace and politics First signing of the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) on February 6, 1840 at Waitangi New Zealand. ... // Events and Trends Technology Production of steel revolutionised by invention of the Bessemer process Benjamin Silliman fractionates petroleum by distillation for the first time First transatlantic telegraph cable laid First safety elevator installed by Elisha Otis Science Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of Species, putting forward the theory of evolution... Ilustration of ch. ... Sumo (相撲 Sumō, alternatively 大相撲 ÅŒzumō), or Sumo wrestling, is a competition contact sport wherein two wrestlers or rikishi face off in a circular area. ...

He outlasted both of his major contemporaries, Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi having died in 1854 and 1861 respectively. His last years were marked by something of a resurgence in quality, as he did series with more inspiration than some of his seemingly mass-produced work of his middle years. He died in Edo (having made only one documented trip out of it in his whole life!) in 1865. 1865 is a common year starting on Sunday. ...

Print series

Kawarazaki Gonjuro I; 1861

During his lifetime, he produced a staggering number of prints, so that even a partial list of his print series numbers more than 600. Here are some of his most important, with dates: Download high resolution version (666x996, 98 KB)The Kabuki actor Kawarazaki Gonjuro I (1838-1903; later Ichikawa Danjuro IX); signed Toyokuni; 1861. ... Download high resolution version (666x996, 98 KB)The Kabuki actor Kawarazaki Gonjuro I (1838-1903; later Ichikawa Danjuro IX); signed Toyokuni; 1861. ...

• Beauties of the Pleasure Quarter (1809)
• Great Hits of the Stage (1815-1816)
• A Collection of Famous Restaurants of Modern Times (circa 1820)
• The Imitation Murasaki and the Rustic Genji (1830's)
• The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido (circa 1838)
• Actors at the Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido (1852)
• Views of Famous Places in Edo (1852)
• An Anthology of Important Places in Great Japan (1852)
• An Imaginary Thirty-Six Poets (1852)
• Restaurants of Edo (1852) (with Hiroshige)
• The Fifty-Three Stations [of the Tokaido] from Two Brushes (1855) (with Hiroshige)
• Famous Places in Edo and One Hundred Beautiful Women (1857)
• The Fifty-Four Chapters of Genji (1858-1859)
• Fashionable Mirror Reflections (1859)
• Famous Kabuki Actors Past and Present (1865 - issued posthumously)

Further reading

• Sebastian Izzard, Kunisada's World (Japan Society, New York, 1993) is the best overall work on him
• Shigeru Shindo, (translated Yoko Moizumi, E.M. Carmichael), Kunisada: The Kabuki Actor Portraits (Graphic-Sha, Tokyo, 1993)
• Ellis Tinios, Mirror of the Stage: The Actor Prints of Kunisada (University Gallery, Leeds, 1996)

External links

• Utagawa Kunisada Project has a list of his series, and images of many of his prints