Signatures from left to right- Toyokuni I, Toyokuni II, and Toyokuni III (Kunisada)

Utagawa Toyokuni II (1777–1835), also known as Toyoshige, was a designer of

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 of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk t ...

Japanese woodblock prints in Edo. He was the pupil, son-in-law and adopted son of Toyokuni I. The former used the name Toyoshige (豊重) until 1826, the year after his teacher's death, when the family gave him the right to use his teacher's name and he began signing his work Toyokuni (豊国). In 1835 he died, and in 1844 the family persuaded Kunisada, the most famous student of Toyokuni I, to use the name "Toyokuni" and become leader of the school. Although Kunisada never recognised Toyoshige's right to the name Toyokuni, nevertheless Kunisada after 1844 is always referred to as Toyokuni III. Toyokuni I, Toyokuni II (Toyoshige), and Toyokuni III (Kunisada) each used the signature Toyokuni (豊国). The signature of Toyokuni II is easiest to distinguish by the chalice-shaped ''toyo'' (豊)

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

(see figure). Toyoshige's students include Utagawa Kunimatsu, Utagawa Kunishige II, Utagawa Kuniteru III, and Utagawa Kunitsuru I.

Legacy

Works by Utagawa Toyokuni II are held in the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

, including the work ''The Sumo Wrestler Kagamiiwa of the West Side''.

Gallery

File:Toyokuni II - 8 Famous Views (Meisho Hakkei), Night Rain at Oyama (Maya Mountain).jpg, Eight Famous Views (Meisho Hakkei), Night Rain at Oyama (Maya Mountain), a woodblock print by Toyokuni II File:Sneeuwbal-Rijksmuseum RP-P-1956-805C.jpeg, File:Drie courtisanes uit het Tamaya huis, RP-P-2008-178.jpg, Three courtesans from the Tamaya house, c. 1828

References

Notes

Cited works

* Lane, Richard. (1978). ''Images from the Floating World, The Japanese Print.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press.
OCLC 5246796
* Newland, Amy Reigle. (2005). ''Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints.'' Amsterdam: Hotei.
OCLC 61666175
1777 births 1835 deaths Ukiyo-e artists Toyokuni II {{Japan-artist-stub