Kabuki Actor Arashi Kichizaburo as Kuranosuke in the Play Keisei Somewake Tazuna

Yoshitaki Utagawa was a prolific artist who produced over 1200 designs in his lifetime. He was a pupil of Yoshiume Utagawa during his formative years, when he produced works in both Edo and Osaka. His most impressive years of work were from 1860 to 1880, when he settled in Osaka. At this point, he concentrated on woodblock prints, abandoning his previous forays into painting and newspaper illustration. The subject matter of his work in Osaka was almost exclusively actors, similar to the artist Hirosada, whose work greatly inspired Yoshitaki.