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Utagawa Kunisada ( ja, 歌川 国貞; 1786 – 12 January 1865), also known as Utagawa Toyokuni III (, ), was a Japanese
ukiyo-e Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surfac ...
artist. He is considered the most popular, prolific and commercially successful designer of ukiyo-e
woodblock prints Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. Each page or image is create ...
in 19th-century
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. In his own time, his reputation far exceeded that of his contemporaries,
Hokusai , known simply as Hokusai, was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker. He is best known for the woodblock printing in Japan, woodblock print series ''Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji'', which includes the ...
,
Hiroshige Utagawa Hiroshige (, also ; ja, 歌川 広重 ), born Andō Tokutarō (; 1797 – 12 October 1858), was a Japanese ''ukiyo-e'' artist, considered the last great master of that tradition. Hiroshige is best known for his horizontal-format l ...
and
Kuniyoshi Kuniyoshi (written: 国吉 or 國吉) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Fumio Kuniyoshi (国吉 史生, born 1985), Japanese-German rapper *, Japanese footballer *, American painter and photographer *, Japanese bas ...
.


Evaluation of Kunisada in art history

At the end of the
Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...
(1603–1867), Hiroshige, Kuniyoshi and Kunisada were the three best representatives of the Japanese color woodcut in Edo (capital city of Japan, now
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
). However, among European and American collectors of Japanese prints, beginning in the late 19th and early 20th century, all three of these artists were actually regarded as rather inferior to the greats of classical ukiyo-e, and therefore as having contributed considerably to the downfall of their art. For this reason, some referred to their works as "decadent". Beginning in the 1930s and 1970s, respectively, the works of Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi were submitted to a re-evaluation, and these two are now counted among the masters of their art. Thus, from Kunisada alone was withheld, for a long time, the acknowledgment which is due to him. With a few exceptions, such as actor portraits (''
yakusha-e ''Yakusha-e'' (役者絵), often referred to as "actor prints" in English, are Japanese woodblock prints or, rarely, paintings, of kabuki actors, particularly those done in the ''ukiyo-e'' style popular through the Edo period (1603–1867) and in ...
'') and portraits of beautiful women (''
bijin-ga is a generic term for pictures of beautiful women () in Japanese art, especially in woodblock printing of the ukiyo-e genre. Definition defines as a picture that simply "emphasizes the beauty of women", and the ''Shincho Encyclopedia of W ...
''), at the beginning of his career, and some series of large-size actor head-portraits near the end, it was thought that he had produced only inferior works. It was not until the early 1990s, with the appearance of Jan van Doesburg's overview of the artistic development of Kunisada, and Sebastian Izzard's extensive study of his work, that this picture began to change, with Kunisada more clearly revealed as one of the "giants" of the Japanese print that he was.


Biography

Although not much is known of the details of Kunisada's life, there are some well-established records of particular events. He was born in 1786 in Honjo, an eastern district of Edo. His given name was Sumida Shōgorō IX (角田庄五朗), and he was also called Sumida Shōzō (角田庄蔵). A small licensed and hereditary ferry-boat service belonged to his family, and the income derived from this business provided a certain basic financial security to engage in leisure activities such as painting. His father, who was an amateur poet of some renown, died in the year after his birth. While growing up, he developed an early talent for painting and drawing. His early sketches at that time impressed Toyokuni, the great master of the
Utagawa school The Utagawa school () was one of the main schools of ukiyo-e, founded by Utagawa Toyoharu. It was the largest ukiyo-e school of its period. The main styles were bijin-ga (beautiful women) and uki-e (perspective picture). His pupil, Toyokuni I, to ...
and prominent designer of
kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought to ...
and actor-portrait prints. In the year 1800 or shortly thereafter Kunisada was accepted by Toyokuni I as an apprentice in his workshop. In keeping with a tradition of Japanese master-apprentice relations, he was then given the official artist name of "KUNI-sada", the first character of which was derived from the second part of the name "Toyo-KUNI". His first known print dates to the year 1807. However this seems to have been an exceptional design, and further full-sized prints appear starting only in 1809–1810. As of 1808 he had already begun work as an illustrator of ''
e-hon is the Japanese term for picture books. It may be applied in the general sense, or may refer specifically to a type of woodblock printed illustrated volume published in the Edo period (1603–1867). The first were religious items with images ...
'' (woodblock print illustrated books) and his popularity rapidly increased. In 1809 he was referred to in contemporary sources as the "star attraction" of the Utagawa school, and soon thereafter was considered as at least equal to his teacher Toyokuni in the area of book illustration. Kunisada's first actor portraits appeared in either 1808 or 1809. It is known that his first ''bijin-ga'' series and a series of pentaptychs of urban scenes of Edo, appear simultaneously in 1809. By 1813 he had risen as a "star" in the constellation of Edo's artistic world; a contemporary list of the most important ukiyo-e artists places him in second place behind Toyokuni I. Kunisada remained one of the "trendsetters" of the Japanese woodblock print until his death in early 1865. Beginning around 1810 Kunisada used the studio name "Gototei", which refers cryptically to his father's ferry-boat business. Until 1842 this signature appeared on nearly all of his kabuki designs. Around 1825 the studio name "Kochoro" appeared, and was often used on prints not related to kabuki. This name was derived from a combination of the pseudonyms of master painter Hanabusa Itcho, and that of his successor Hanabusa Ikkei, with whom Kunisada had studied a new style of painting around 1824–1825. In 1844, he finally adopted the name of his master Toyokuni I, and for a brief time used the signature "Kunisada becoming Toyokuni II". Starting in 1844–1845, all of his prints are signed "Toyokuni", partially with the addition of other studio names as prefixes, such as "Kochoro" and "Ichiyosai". Although Kunisada referred to himself as "Toyokuni II", he must be regarded, however, as "Toyokuni III". The question is unsettled as to why he intentionally ignored
Toyoshige Toyoshige is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Toyoshige can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *豊重, "bountiful, heavy" *豊茂, "bountiful, luxuriant" *豊繁, "bountiful, pr ...
, a pupil and son-in-law of Toyokuni I and who had borne the name "Toyokuni", as legitimate head of the Utagawa school, from 1825 until his own death in 1835. Towards the end of his life he began recording his age with his signature on his prints. The date of Kunisada's death was the 15th day of the 12th month of the First Year of Genji. Most sources erroneously report this as having been in the year 1864, though this date in the
Japanese calendar Japanese calendar types have included a range of official and unofficial systems. At present, Japan uses the Gregorian calendar together with year designations stating the year of the reign of the current Emperor. The written form starts with t ...
corresponds to the date January 12, 1865, in the
Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...
. Kunisada died in the same neighborhood in which he had been born.


Artistic activity

Almost from the first day of his activity, and even at the time of his death in 1865, Kunisada was a trendsetter in the art of the Japanese woodblock print. Always at the vanguard of his time, and in tune with the tastes of the public, he continuously developed his style, which was sometimes radically changed, and did not adhere to stylistic constraints set by any of his contemporaries. His productivity was extraordinary. About 14,500 individual designs have been catalogued (
polyptych A polyptych ( ; Greek: ''poly-'' "many" and ''ptychē'' "fold") is a painting (usually panel painting) which is divided into sections, or panels. Specifically, a "diptych" is a two-part work of art; a "triptych" is a three-part work; a tetrapty ...
sets counted as a single design) corresponding to more than 22,500 individual sheets. It seems probable based on these figures that Kunisada actually produced between 20,000 and 25,000 designs for woodblock prints during his lifetime (i.e. 35,000 to 40,000 individual sheets). Following the traditional pattern of the Utagawa school, Kunisada's main occupation was kabuki and actor prints, and about 60% of his designs fall in this category. However he was also highly active in the area of ''bijin-ga'' prints (comprising about 15% of his complete works), and their total number was far higher than any other artist of his time. From 1820 to 1860 he likewise dominated the market for portraits of
sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...
wrestlers. For a long time (1835–1850) he had an almost complete monopoly on the genre of prints related to '' The Tale of Genji''; it was only after 1850 that other artists began to produce similar designs. Noteworthy also are the number of his ''
surimono are a genre of Japanese woodblock print. They were privately commissioned for special occasions such as the New Year. Surimono literally means "printed thing". Being produced in small numbers for a mostly educated audience of ''literati'', ...
'', and although they were designed almost exclusively prior to 1844, few artists were better-known in this area. Kunisada's paintings, which were privately commissioned, are little-known, but can be compared to those of other masters of ukiyoe painting. His activity as a book illustrator is also largely unexplored. He was no less productive in the area of ehon than he was in full-sized prints, and notable among his book prints are ''
shunga is a type of Japanese erotic art typically executed as a kind of ukiyo-e, often in woodblock print format. While rare, there are also extant erotic painted handscrolls which predate ukiyo-e. Translated literally, the Japanese word ''shunga' ...
'' pictures, which appeared in numerous books. Due to censorship, they are signed only on the title page with his alias "Matahei". Landscape prints and ''musha-e'' (samurai warrior prints) by Kunisada are rare, and only about 100 designs in each of these genres are known. He effectively left these two fields to be covered by his contemporaries Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi, respectively. The mid-1840s and early 1850s, were a period of expansion when woodblock prints were in high demand in Japan. During this time Kunisada collaborated with one of or both Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi in three major series as well as on a number of smaller projects. This co-operation was in large part politically motivated in order to demonstrate solidarity against the intensified censorship regulations of the
Tenpō Reforms The were an array of economic policies introduced between 1841 and 1843 by the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan. These reforms were efforts to resolve perceived problems in military, economic, agricultural, financial and religious systems. The changes ...
. Also beginning around the mid-1850s there are series in which individual parts of designs (and sometimes complete sheets) are signed by Kunisada's students; this was done with the intention of promoting their work as individual artists. Notable students of Kunisada included Toyohara
Kunichika Toyohara Kunichika ( ja, 豊原 国周; 30 June 1835 – 1 July 1900) was a ukiyo-e Japanese woodblock print artist. Talented as a child, at about thirteen he became a student of Tokyo's then-leading print maker, Utagawa Kunisada ...
,
Utagawa Sadahide , also known as Gountei Sadahide (), was a Japanese artist best known for his prints in the ukiyo-e style as a member of the Utagawa school. His prints covered a wide variety of genres; amongst his best known are his ''Yokohama-e'' pictures of ...
and
Utagawa Kunisada II Utagawa Kunisada II (, 1823 – 20 July 1880) was a Japanese ''ukiyo-e'' print designer, one of three to take the name "Utagawa Kunisada". He headed the Utagawa school. Life and career Little is known of Kunisada II's early life. A pupil of ...
. The majority of Kunisada's work was of actors portrayed in current popular plays; most of the rest was of women in the latest fashions. The works dated with quickly-changing fashions, and there was a constant demand for new prints to replace the outdated ones.


Reception and legacy

Kunisada had a five-decade prominent career, during which his work was always phenomenally popular and sold in the thousands, letting him become the all-time bestselling designer of Japanese woodblock prints. A well-known anecdote recorded in ''Biographies of the Utagawa School Artists'' by Iijima Kyoshin, written beginning of the 1890s, relates that the young
Kuniyoshi Kuniyoshi (written: 国吉 or 國吉) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Fumio Kuniyoshi (国吉 史生, born 1985), Japanese-German rapper *, Japanese footballer *, American painter and photographer *, Japanese bas ...
, having languished for years as an artist, once observed Kunisada, ten years older and already an enormously popular artist, dressed in rich clothes and heartily enjoying himself with a beautiful geisha along the roads in Edo. Spurred by envy, Kuniyoshi vowed to renew devotion to his art and later achieved the success he craved. Kunisada was so famous that, in order to help his friend Hiroshige promote the first edition of the Tokaido, he designed an own serie of ''The fifty-three stations of the Tokaido'', adding one of his popular beauties in the foreground of each of Hiroshige's landscapes. Early 20th-century critics have been reluctant to declare merit in his work, particularly the one of the later period. An example of the contempt early Western critics subjected Kunisada's work to: It is only with the 1990s that Kunisada's work re-gained widespread appreciation. Nowadays, Kunisada is again well-regarded as one of the main masters of the ukiyo-e art:


Collections

Recent Exhibits: * ''A Third Gender'', Royal Ontario Museum & Japan Society, 2017 * ''Showdown!'', MFA Boston, 2016 * ''Utagawa'', Brooklyn Museum of Art, 2008 * ''Living for the Moment: Japanese Prints from the Collection of Barbara S. Bowman'', LACMA, 2006 Featured in Major Collections: *
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
*
Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science The Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science is a general-interest museum located on the Ohio riverfront in downtown Evansville, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1904, it is one of Southern Indiana's most established and significant cultural ...
*
Minneapolis Institute of Art The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the largest art museums in the United State ...
*
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
*
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...
*
Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Pa ...
*
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
* Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery


See also

*
Utagawa school The Utagawa school () was one of the main schools of ukiyo-e, founded by Utagawa Toyoharu. It was the largest ukiyo-e school of its period. The main styles were bijin-ga (beautiful women) and uki-e (perspective picture). His pupil, Toyokuni I, to ...
*
List of Utagawa school members A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...


References


Works cited

*


Further reading

* Sebastian Izzard, ''Kunisada's World'' (Japan Society, New York, 1993) * Lars Berglund, ''Recapturing Utagawa Kunisada: 24 Prints from the Anders Rikardson Collection'' (p. 59ff, Vol 25, Issue 1, January–February 1995, Arts of Asia, Hong Kong) * Jan van Doesburg, ''What about Kunisada?'' (Huys den Esch, Dodewaard, 1990) * 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) * Willibald Netto, ''Kunisada (1786–1865) Ausstellung im Kupferstich-Kabinett des Wallraf-Richartz-Museums'' atalog (Wallraf-Richartz-Museums, Köln, 1966) * Robert Schaap, (introduction by Sebastian Izzard), ''Kunisada: imaging drama and beauty'', 2016


External links


The Utagawa Kunisada Project
Overview of Kunisada's work with thousands of pictures, series titles, lists of actors and kabuki dramas portrayed by Kunisada, and detailed study of his artistic names and signatures. During his lifetime, he produced a staggering number of prints, so that even

includes nearly 1,000 series.
Kunisada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunisada 1786 births 1865 deaths Ukiyo-e artists Artists from Tokyo Japanese portrait painters Utagawa school