Utagawa Kuniyoshi (, ; 1 January 1798 – 14 April 1861) was one of the last great masters of the Japanese

ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art that flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock printing, woodblock prints and Nikuhitsu-ga, paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes ...

style of

woodblock print 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 on paper. Each page or image is creat ...

s and painting.Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric ''et al'' (2005). "Kuniyoshi" in He was a member of the Utagawa school.Nussbaum, "Utagawa-ryū" in The range of Kuniyoshi's subjects included many genres: landscapes, women,

Kabuki is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes ...

actors, cats, and mythical animals. He is known for depictions of the battles of legendary

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

heroes.Lubow, Arthur
"Everything But the Robots: A Kuniyoshi Retrospective Reveals the Roots of Manga,"
''New York Magazine.'' March 7, 2010. His artwork incorporated aspects of Western representation in

landscape painting Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction in painting of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, rivers, trees, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a cohe ...

and

caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, ...

Life

Kuniyoshi was born on 1 January 1798, the son of a silk-dyer, Yanagiya Kichiyemon,Robinson (1961), p. 5 originally named Yoshisaburō. Apparently he assisted his father's business as a pattern designer, and some have suggested that this experience influenced his rich use of color and textile patterns in prints. It is said that Kuniyoshi was impressed, at an early age of seven or eight, by ukiyo-e warrior prints, and by pictures of artisans and commoners (as depicted in craftsmen manuals), and it is possible these influenced his own later prints. Yoshisaburō proved his drawing talents at age 12, quickly attracting the attention of the famous ukiyo-e print master

Utagawa Toyokuni , also often referred to as Toyokuni I, to distinguish him from the Utagawa school, members of his school who took over his ''gō'' (art-name) after he died, was a great master of ukiyo-e, known in particular for his kabuki actor prints. He was ...

. He was officially admitted to Toyokuni's studio in 1811, and became one of his chief pupils. He remained an apprentice until 1814, at which time he was given the name "Kuniyoshi" and set out as an independent artist. During this year he produced his first published work, the illustrations for the ''kusazōshi'' ''gōkan'' ''Gobuji Chūshingura'', a parody of the original

Chūshingura is the title given to fictionalized accounts in Japanese literature, theater, and film that relate to the historical incident involving the forty-seven ''rōnin'' and their mission to avenge the death of their master, Asano Naganori. Including ...

story. Between 1815 and 1817 he created a number of book illustrations for ''

yomihon is a type of Japanese book from the Edo period (1603–1867). Unlike other Japanese books of the periods, such as kusazōshi, they had few illustrations, and the emphasis was on the text. In storylines, Buddhist ethics such as karma are often pr ...

'', ''

kokkeibon The was a genre and type of early modern Japanese novel. It came into being late in the Edo period during the 19th century. As a genre, it depicted the comical behavior occurring in commoners' daily lives. The ''kokkeibon'' genre is the successo ...

'', ''gōkan'' and ''hanashibon'', and printed his stand-alone full color prints of warriors and

kabuki is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes ...

actors. Despite his promising debut, the young Kuniyoshi failed to produce many works between 1818 and 1827, probably due to a lack of commissions from publishers, and the competition of other artists within the Utagawa school (Utagawa-''ryū''). However, during this time he did produce pictures 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 ...

') and experimented with large textile patterns and light-and-shadow effects found in Western art, although his attempts showed more imitation than real understanding of these principles. His economic situation turned desperate at one point when he was forced to sell used

tatami are soft mats used as flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. They are made in standard sizes, twice as long as wide, about , depending on the region. In martial arts, tatami are used for training in a dojo and for competition. ...

mats. A chance encounter with his prosperous fellow pupil

Kunisada Utagawa Kunisada (; 1786 – 12 January 1865), also known as Utagawa Toyokuni III (, ), was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist. He is considered the most popular, prolific and commercially successful designer of ukiyo-e woodblock printing in Japa ...

, to whom he felt that he was superior in artistic talent, led him to redouble his efforts (but did not create any lingering ill-feeling between the two, who later collaborated on a number of series). During the 1820s, Kuniyoshi produced a number of heroic

triptych A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all m ...

s that show the first signs of an individual style. In 1827 he received his first major commission for the series, ''One hundred and eight heroes of the popular Suikoden all told'' (''Tsūzoku Suikoden gōketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori''), based on the incredibly popular Chinese tale, the '' Shuihu Zhuan''. In this series Kuniyoshi illustrated individual heroes on single-sheets, drawing tattoos on his heroes, a novelty which soon influenced

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

fashion. The Suikoden series became extremely popular in Edo, and the demand for Kuniyoshi's warrior prints increased, gaining him entrance into the major ukiyo-e and literary circles. He continued to produce warrior prints, drawing much of his subjects from war tales such as ''Tale of the Heike'' () and ''The rise and fall of the Minamoto and the Taira'' ('' Genpei Seisuiki''). His warrior prints were unique in that they depicted legendary popular figures with an added stress on dreams, ghostly apparitions, omens, and superhuman feats. This subject matter is instilled in his works ''The ghost of

Taira no Tomomori (1152–1185) was the son of Taira no Kiyomori, and one of the Taira Clan's chief commanders in the Genpei War at the end of the Heian period of Japanese history. He was victorious at the Battle of Uji in 1180. He also became successful in t ...

at Daimotsu bay'' (''Taira Tomomori borei no zu'') and the 1839 triptych ''The Gōjō bridge'' (''Gōjō no bashi no zu''), where he manages to invoke an effective sense of action intensity in his depiction of the combat between

Yoshitsune Yoshitsune may refer to: * Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1159–1189) ** ''Gikeiki'', a Japanese chronicle, sometimes known in English by Helen Craig McCullough's translated title ''Yoshitsune'' ** ''Yoshitsune'' (TV series), a 2005 Japanese television ...

and

Benkei , popularly known by the mononym Benkei (), was a Japanese warrior monk (''sōhei'') who lived in the latter years of the Heian Period (794–1185). Benkei led a varied life, first becoming a monk, then a mountain ascetic, and then a rogue war ...

. These new thematic styles satisfied the public's interest in the ghastly, exciting, and bizarre that was growing during the time. 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 ...

of 1841–1843 aimed to alleviate economic crisis by controlling public displays of luxury and wealth, and the illustration of courtesans and actors in ''ukiyō-e'' was officially banned at that time. This may have had some influence on Kuniyoshi's production of caricature prints or comic pictures (''giga''), which were used to disguise actual actors and courtesans. Many of these symbolically and humorously criticized the shogunate (such as the 1843 design showing

Minamoto no Yorimitsu , also known as Minamoto no Raikō, was a Japanese samurai of the Heian period, who served the regents of the Fujiwara clan along with his brother Yorinobu, taking the violent measures the Fujiwara were themselves unable to take. He is one of t ...

asleep, haunted by the Earth Spider and his demons) and became popular among the politically dissatisfied public. Timothy Clark, curator of Japanese art at the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, asserts that the repressive conventions of the day produced unintended consequences. The government-created limitations became a kind of artistic challenge which actually encouraged Kuniyoshi's creative resourcefulness by forcing him to find ways to veil criticism of the shogunate allegorically. Utagawa Kuniyoshi Kanama Goro Immakuni

During the decade leading up to the reforms, Kuniyoshi also produced landscape prints (''fūkeiga''), which were outside the bounds of censorship and catered to the rising popularity of personal travel in late

Edo Japan The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

. Notable among these were ''Famous products of the provinces'' (''Sankai meisan zukushi'', c. 1828–30)—where he incorporated Western shading and perspective and pigments—and ''Famous views of the Eastern capital'' in the early 1830s, which was certainly influenced by

Hokusai , known mononymously as Hokusai, was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker. His woodblock printing in Japan, woodblock print series ''Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji'' includes the iconic print ''The Gr ...

's early-1830s ''

Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji is a series of landscape prints by the Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai (1760–1849). The series depicts Mount Fuji from different locations and in various seasons and weather conditions. The immediate success of the publication led to anothe ...

'' (''Fugaku sanjūrokkei''). Kuniyoshi also produced during this time works of purely natural subject matter, notably of animals, birds and fish that mimicked traditional Japanese and Chinese painting. Ichikawa Danjuro Viii Greeting the Audience 1853

Ichikawa Danjuro Viii Greeting the Audience 1853

In the late 1840s, Kuniyoshi began again to illustrate actor prints, this time evading censorship (or simply evoking creativity) through childish, cartoon-like portraits of famous kabuki actors, the most notable being "Scribbling on the storehouse wall" (''Nitakaragurakabe no mudagaki''). Here he creatively used elementary, childlike script sloppily written in

kana are syllabary, syllabaries used to write Japanese phonology, Japanese phonological units, Mora (linguistics), morae. In current usage, ''kana'' most commonly refers to ''hiragana'' and ''katakana''. It can also refer to their ancestor , wh ...

under the actor faces. Reflecting his love for felines, Kuniyoshi also began to use cats in the place of humans in kabuki and satirical prints. He is also known during this time to have experimented with wide composition, magnifying visual elements in the image for a dramatic, exaggerated effect (ex. ''Masakado's daughter the princess Takiyasha, at the old Soma palace''). In 1856 Kuniyoshi suffered from palsy, which caused him much difficulty in moving his limbs. It is said that his works from this point onward were noticeably weaker in the use of line and overall vitality. Before his death in 1861, Kuniyoshi was able to witness the opening of the port city of

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

to foreigners, and in 1860 produced two works depicting Westerners in the city (

Yokohama-e are woodblock printing in Japan, Japanese ukiyo-e, woodblock prints depicting non-East Asians, East Asian foreigners and scenes in the port city of Yokohama. History The port of Yokohama was opened to foreigners in 1859, and ukiyo-e artists, p ...

, ex. ''View of Honchō'' and ''The pleasure quarters, Yokohama''). He died at the age of 63 in April 1861 in his home in Genyadana.

Pupils

Kuniyoshi was an excellent teacher and had numerous pupils who continued his branch of the Utagawa school. Among the most notable were

Yoshitoshi Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (; also named Taiso Yoshitoshi ; 30 April 1839 – 9 June 1892) was a Japanese printmaker. Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005)"Tsukoka Kōgyō"in ''Japan Encyclopedia,'' p. 1000. Yoshitoshi has widely been rec ...

, Yoshitora, Yoshiiku,

Yoshikazu Yoshikazu is a masculine Japanese name, Japanese given name. Written forms Yoshikazu can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *義一, "justice, 1" *義和, "justice, harmony" *吉一, "good luck ...

, Yoshitsuya, and Yoshifuji. Typically his students began an apprenticeship in which they worked primarily on

musha-e Musha-e () is a type a Japanese art that was developed in the late 18th century. It is a genre of the ukiyo-e woodblock printing technique, and represents images of warriors and samurai from Japanese history and mythology. History Edo Period ...

in a style similar to that of their master. As they became established as independent artists, many went on to develop highly innovative styles of their own. His most important student was

, who is now regarded as the "last master" of the Japanese woodblock print. Among those influenced by Kuniyoshi was

Toyohara Chikanobu , better known to his contemporaries as , was a Japanese painter and printmaker who was widely regarded as a prolific woodblock artist during the Meiji epoch. Names Chikanobu signed his artwork . This was his . The artist's was ; and it ...

Takashi Murakami is a Japanese contemporary artist. He works in fine arts (such as painting and sculpture) as well as commercial media (such as fashion, merchandise, and animation) and is known for blurring the line between High art, high and low arts. His wo ...

credits the pioneering influence of Kuniyoshi affecting his work.

Print series

A cat dressed as a woman tapping the head of an octopus

Here is a partial list of his print series, with dates: * '' Illustrated Abridged Biography of the Founder'' (c. 1831) * ''Famous Views of the Eastern Capital'' (c. 1834) * ''Heroes of Our Country's Suikoden'' (c. 1836) * ''Stories of Wise and Virtuous Women'' (c. 1841-1842) * ''Fifty-Three Parallels for the Tōkaidō'' (1843–1845) (with

Hiroshige or , 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 landscape series '' The Fifty-three Stations ...

and

Toyokuni III Utagawa Kunisada (; 1786 – 12 January 1865), also known as Utagawa Toyokuni III (, ), was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist. He is considered the most popular, prolific and commercially successful designer of ukiyo-e woodblock prints in 19th-c ...

) * ''Twenty-Four Paragons of Filial Piety'' (1843–1846) * ''Mirror of the Twenty-Four Paragons of Filial Piety'' (1844–1846) * ''Six Crystal Rivers'' (1847–1848) * ''Fidelity in Revenge'' (c. 1848) * ''Twenty-Four Chinese Paragons of Filial Piety'' (c. 1848) * ''Sixty-Nine Stations along the Kisokaido'' (1852) * ''Portraits of Samurai of True Loyalty'' (1852) * '' 24 Generals of Kai Province'' (1853) * Half-length portrait of Goshaku Somegoro * ''

Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre ''Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre'' or ''Mitsukuni Defying the Skeleton Spectre Invoked by Princess Takiyasha'' () is an ukiyo-e woodblock triptych by Japanese artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798–1861). Kuniyoshi was known for his depi ...

'' See The Kuniyoshi Project for a more extensive list.

Gallery

Multi-sheet impressions, triptychs

File:Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre.jpg, ''

'', c. 1844 File:Kagesue, Takatsuna and Shigetada crossing the Uji river.jpg, Kajiwara Kagesue,

Sasaki Takatsuna was a Japanese samurai commander in the Genpei War, the great conflict between the Minamoto and Taira clans.Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric ''et al'' (2005). "Sasaki Takatsuna" in An infant at the time of the Heiji Rebellion (1159–1160), Tak ...

, and

Hatakeyama Shigetada was a samurai warlord of the late Heian and early Kamakura period Japan. He fought in the Genpei War, though originally for the Taira clan, he switched sides to the Minamoto clan for the Battle of Dan-no-ura, and ended the war on the winning si ...

racing to cross the

Uji River The , also called the Seta River (瀬田川 ''Seta-gawa'') and the Uji River (宇治川 ''Uji-gawa'') at portions of its route, is the principal river in Osaka Prefecture on Honshu, Japan. The source of the river is Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefectur ...

before the second battle of Uji during the

Genpei War The was a national civil war between the Taira clan, Taira and Minamoto clan, Minamoto clans during the late Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the downfall of the Taira and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto no Yori ...

File:La expedición de Xu Fu, por Utagawa Kuniyoshi.jpg, ''The First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty in China, in Search of the Magical Herbs of Longevity, Had Ten Great Ships Built, and the Court Magician Xu Fu with Five Hundred Boys and Girls, Carrying Treasure, Food Supplies, and Equipment, Set Out for Mount Penglai'' (c. 1843)

''Yoko-e'', a print in horizontal or "landscape" format

File:Kuniyoshi Utagawa, At the shore of the Sumida river.jpg, ''On the shore of the Sumida River'' File:Kuniyoshi Utagawa, Mt fuji from Sumida.jpg, ''Mt Fuji from the Sumida'' Image:Kuniyoshi Utagawa, Pilgrims in the waterfall.jpg, ''Pilgrims in the waterfall''

Single sheet format

File:Kuniyoshi Utagawa, Banners for the boys festival.jpg, Banners for boys' day festival File:Kuniyoshi Utagawa, Courtesan in training.jpg, Courtesan in training File:KaiGeneral.jpg,

Takeda Nobushige was a samurai of Japan's Sengoku period, and younger brother of Takeda Shingen. He was known as one of the " Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen". Military life Takeda Nobushige held the favor of their father, Takeda Nobutora, then ''daimy ...

from the series '' ''24 Generals of Kai Province'' Image:Suikoden.jpg, from the series ''One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Suikoden All Told'' File:Eight Hundred Heroes of Our Country s Suikoden 12.jpg, from the series ''Heroes of Our Country's Suikoden'' Image:Hanagami Danjo no jo Arakage fighting a giant salamander.jpg, Hanagami Danjo no jo Arakage fighting a giant salamander File:Miyamoto Musashi killing a giant nue.jpg,

Miyamoto Musashi , was a Japanese swordsman, strategist, artist, and writer who became renowned through stories of his unique double-bladed swordsmanship and undefeated record in his 62 duels. Miyamoto is considered a ''Kensei (honorary title), kensei'' (swo ...

killing a giant lizard Image:Saito Oniwakamaru.jpg, Saito Oniwakamaru, the young

, fights the giant carp at the Bishimon waterfall Image:Hatsuhana doing penance under the Tonosawa waterfall.jpg, Hatsuhana doing penance under the Tonosawa waterfall Image:Keyamura Rokusuke under the Hikosan Gongen waterfall.jpg,

Keyamura Rokusuke , also known as , is one of the leading characters in the ningyō jōruri and kabuki play ''Hiko-san Gongen chikai no sukedachi'' (彦山権現誓助劔) and in some other plays. The farmer turned samurai is known for his filial piety and incredib ...

under the Hikosan Gongen waterfall File:Kakinomoto no hitomaro.jpg,

Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a Japanese '' waka'' poet and aristocrat of the late Asuka period. He was the most prominent of the poets included in the ''Man'yōshū'', the oldest ''waka'' anthology, but apart from what can be gleaned from hints in the ''Man'yōshū'', ...

File:Tsuzoku Suikoden Goketsu Hyakuhachi-nin no Hitori (108 Heroes of 'The Water Margin' in Popular Translation) (BM 1906,1220,0.1311).jpg, Portrait of Chicasei Goyô (Wu Yong) from ''

Water Margin ''Water Margin'' (), also called ''Outlaws of the Marsh'' or ''All Men Are Brothers'', is a Chinese novel from the Ming dynasty that is one of the preeminent Classic Chinese Novels. Attributed to Shi Nai'an, ''Water Margin'' was one of the e ...

'' (1827–1830) File:Oda-Nobunaga-by-Utagawa-Kuniyoshi.png,

Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art that flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock printing, woodblock prints and Nikuhitsu-ga, paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes ...

of Oda Nobunaga File:Yoshitsune aangevallen door Taira geesten-Rijksmuseum RP-P-1979-177.jpeg, Utagawa Kuniyoshi,

and

defending themselves in their boat during a storm created by the ghosts of conquered

Taira clan The was one of the four most important Japanese clans, clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period, Heian period of History of Japan, Japanese history – the others being the Minamoto clan, Minamoto, the Fujiwara clan, Fuji ...

warriors File:Minamoto-no-Tametomo-by-Kuniyoshi-Utagawa.png,

Minamoto no Tametomo , also known as , was a samurai who fought in the Hōgen Rebellion of 1156. He was the son of Minamoto no Tameyoshi, and brother to Yukiie and Yoshitomo. Tametomo is known in the epic chronicles as a powerful archer and it is said that he onc ...

with a gunsen fan

Themes

Kuniyoshi's work may be parsed thematically, as in this group of images which feature cats. File:Cats_forming_the_caracters_for_catfish.jpg, Cats forming the characters for catfish File:Kuniyoshi Utagawa, For cats in different poses.jpg, Four cats in different poses illustrating Japanese proverbs File:Cats_suggested_as_the_fifty-three_stations_of_the_Tokaido.jpg, Cats suggested as ''

The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' Caricatures were among Kuniyoshi's themes. File:Scrbbling on the storehouse wall.jpg, Scribbling on the storehouse wall File:At first glance he looks very fiarce, but he s really a nice person.jpg, At first glance he looks very fierce, but he is actually a kind person ''The Monster's Chūshingura (Bakemono Chūshingura)'', ca. 1836,

Princeton University Art Museum The Princeton University Art Museum (PUAM) is the Princeton University gallery of art, located in Princeton, New Jersey. With a collecting history that began in 1755, the museum was formally established in 1882, and now houses over 117,000 work ...

File:Kuniyoshi, Utagawa, The Monster's Chūshingura (Bakemono Chūshingura), ca. 1836 (a).jpg, Acts 9-11 of the ''

Kanadehon Chūshingura is an 11-act bunraku puppet play composed in 1748. It is one of the most popular Japanese plays, ranked with Zeami Motokiyo, Zeami's ''Matsukaze'', although the vivid action of ''Chūshingura'' differs dramatically from ''Matsukaze''. Medium Du ...

'' with act nine at top right, act ten at bottom right, act eleven, scene 1, at top left, act eleven, scene 2 at bottom left File:Kuniyoshi, Utagawa, The Monster's Chūshingura (Bakemono Chūshingura), ca. 1836 (b).jpg, Acts 5-8 of the ''Kanadehon Chūshingura'' with act five at top right, act six at bottom right, act seven at top left, act eight at bottom left File:Kuniyoshi, Utagawa, The Monster's Chūshingura (Bakemono Chūshingura), ca. 1836 (c).jpg, Acts 1-4 of the ''Kanadehon Chūshingura'' with act one at top right, act two at bottom right, act three at top left, act four at bottom left Kuniyoshi's work is held in the permanent collections of many museums worldwide, including the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, the Princeton University Art Museum, the

Nasher Museum of Art The Nasher Museum of Art (previously the Duke University Museum of Art) is the art museum of Duke University, and is located on Duke's campus in Durham, North Carolina, United States. History In 1936, art collector William Hayes Ackland wro ...

, the

University of Michigan Museum of Art The University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) is one of the largest university art museums in the United States, located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with . Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university's fallen alumni from the Civil War, Alu ...

, the

Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum is a public art museum located in the Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. Founded and opened in 1934, it holds collections from the mid-19th century that were amassed substantially ...

, the

Portland Art Museum The Portland Art Museum (PAM) is an art museum in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. The Portland Art Museum has 240,000 square feet (22,000 m2), with more than 112,000 square feet (10,400 m2) of gallery space. The museum’s permanent c ...

, the

Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Art Museum (commonly known as SAM) is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The museum operates three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum in ...

, the

Birmingham Museum of Art The Birmingham Museum of Art is a museum in Birmingham, Alabama. Its collection includes more than 24,000 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, and decorative arts representing various cultures, including Asian, European, United States, Amer ...

, the

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), comprising the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in the city of San Francisco. FAMSF's combined attendance was 1,1 ...

, the

Indianapolis Museum of Art The Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) is an encyclopedic art museum located at Newfields, a campus that also houses Lilly House, The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park, the Garden at Newfields and more. It is located at the corner of No ...

, the

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

, and the

Van Gogh Museum The Van Gogh Museum () is a Dutch art museum dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries in the Museum Square in Amsterdam South, close to the Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Concertgebouw. The museum opened o ...

Notes

References

* Kitagawa, Hiroshi and Bruce T. Tsuchida, ed. (1975). ''The Tale of the Heike.'' Tokyo:

University of Tokyo Press The is a university press affiliated with the University of Tokyo in Japan. It was founded in 1951, following the post-World War II reorganization of the university. The press is currently a member of the Association of University Presses. H ...

.
OCLC 164803926
* Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). ''Japan Encyclopedia.'' Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

.
OCLC 48943301
* Utagawa, Kuniyoshi; Robert A Rorex and Victoria Rovine. (1997). ''Samurai Stories: Woodblock Prints of Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi, from a Private Collection.'' Iowa City, Iowa: University of Iowa Museum of Art
OCLC 37678997

External links

Utagawa Kuniyoshi's Cats Kuniyoshi ProjectUkiyo-e Caricatures 1842-1905
Database of the Department of East Asian Studies of the University of Vienna. Over 400 prints of Kuniyoshi are included.
Short biography at Artelino Graphic Heroes, Magic Monsters
Gallery exhibition at New York's Japan Society featuring Kuniyoshi prints.
Woodblock Prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Utagawa, Kuniyoshi 1798 births 1861 deaths Japanese portrait painters Japanese fantasy artists Japanese horror artists Ukiyo-e artists Kuniyoshi 19th-century Japanese painters Artists from Tokyo

Life

Pupils

Print series

Gallery

Multi-sheet impressions, triptychs

''Yoko-e'', a print in horizontal or "landscape" format

Single sheet format

Themes

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links