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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Man folds miniature kimonos

Man folds miniature kimonos (1832)

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

Man in a straw raincoat

Man in a straw raincoat (1835-1836)

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

Man looks up at woman wearing dragon crown

Man looks up at woman wearing dragon crown (1820)

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

Man with large axe

Man with large axe (1833)

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

Minakuchi

Minakuchi (1835-1845)

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

Monkey offers an almanac to a courtesan

Monkey offers an almanac to a courtesan (1836)

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

Nakamura Shikan I after his last performance

Nakamura Shikan I after his last performance (1815)

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

Nakamura Utaemon III in the role of Gotobei Moritsugu

Nakamura Utaemon III in the role of Gotobei Moritsugu (1863)

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

Osan

Osan (1862)

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

Otsu

Otsu (1835-1845)

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

Peony with crab

Peony with crab (1830-1835)

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

Portrait of a woman, boy and man

Portrait of a woman, boy and man (1820-1830)

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

Praying for Rain.Amagoi

Praying for Rain.Amagoi (1820-1835)

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

Prince Genji and lady-in-waiting

Prince Genji and lady-in-waiting (1851-1853)

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

Prince Genji with cherry blossoms

Prince Genji with cherry blossoms (1849-1850)

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

Sakanoshita

Sakanoshita (1835-1845)

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

Sake bottle and cup

Sake bottle and cup (1861)

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

Samurai at the river

Samurai at the river (1850)

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

Samurai in the rain

Samurai in the rain (1825)

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

Samurai with helmet in hand

Samurai with helmet in hand (1821)

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

Sawamura Tanosuke

Sawamura Tanosuke (1860)

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

Scenes in a brothel

Scenes in a brothel (1840)

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

Seichû Ôboshi ichidaibanashi

Seichû Ôboshi ichidaibanashi (1850)

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

Sekidera

Sekidera (1799)

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

Shakkyo no botan, Fukisaburo

Shakkyo no botan, Fukisaburo (1862)

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

Sono sugata Hikaru no utsushi-e

Sono sugata Hikaru no utsushi-e (1851-1853)

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

Stormy day on the Sumida River

Stormy day on the Sumida River (1844)

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

Sumida River in winter

Sumida River in winter (1862)

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

Taira Heishin-ô Masakado

Taira Heishin-ô Masakado (1849-1852)

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

Takanawa in winter

Takanawa in winter (1862)

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

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