Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III)

Japanese, 1786 – 1865

Utagawa Kunisada, also known as Utagawa Toyokuni III (三代歌川豊国 Sandai Utagawa Toyokuni), was the most popular, prolific and commercially successful designer of ukiyo-e woodblock prints in 19th-century Japan. In his own time, his reputation far exceeded that of his contemporaries, Hokusai, Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi.

At the end of the Edo period (1603–1867), Hiroshige, Kuniyoshi and Kunisada were the three best representatives of the Japanese color woodcut in Edo (capital city of Japan, now Tokyo). 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) and portraits of beautiful women (bijin-ga), 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.

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The evil Yasha pulls a red banner

The evil Yasha pulls a red banner (1854)

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786 – 1865)

The Shimada rest area

The Shimada rest area (1835-1845)

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786 – 1865)

The third month. Yayoi

The third month. Yayoi (1861)

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786 – 1865)

Three actors at a temple gate

Three actors at a temple gate (1820)

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786 – 1865)

Three courtesans

Three courtesans (1814-1815)

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786 – 1865)

Three kabuki actors pulling a red banner

Three kabuki actors pulling a red banner (1854)

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786 – 1865)

Throwing snowballs

Throwing snowballs (1825)

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786 – 1865)

Throwing snowballs

Throwing snowballs (1825)

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786 – 1865)

Tokaido

Tokaido (1835-1845)

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786 – 1865)

Tsuchiyama

Tsuchiyama (1835-1845)

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786 – 1865)

Tsuki no kage shinobiau yoru

Tsuki no kage shinobiau yoru (1836-1838)

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786 – 1865)

Two actors on verse strips

Two actors on verse strips (1850)

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786 – 1865)

Two men fighting

Two men fighting (1825-1826)

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786 – 1865)

Udon restaurant

Udon restaurant (1825)

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786 – 1865)

Ueno Yamashita

Ueno Yamashita (1858)

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786 – 1865)

Woman in autumn kimono

Woman in autumn kimono (1861)

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786 – 1865)

Woman in winter garden

Woman in winter garden (1830-1840)

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786 – 1865)

Woman making a sand painting

Woman making a sand painting (1820)

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786 – 1865)

Woman on balcony

Woman on balcony (1852)

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786 – 1865)

Woman putting away a kimono

Woman putting away a kimono (1836-1838)

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786 – 1865)

Woman warming her hands at a hibachi

Woman warming her hands at a hibachi (1859)

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786 – 1865)

Woman with water pots

Woman with water pots (1850)

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786 – 1865)

Women at the Ebisuya store

Women at the Ebisuya store (1842)

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786 – 1865)

Women at the Ebisuya store

Women at the Ebisuya store (1842)

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786 – 1865)

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