Kunisada (AKA Toyokuni III,1786 - 1864 )
View works signed Toyokuni III
Kunisada, also known as Toyokuni III, was born in the Honjo district of Edo as Kunisada Tsunoda. Kunisada’s family owned a small hereditary ferryboat service. Though his father, an amateur poet, died when Kunisada was a child, the family business provided some financial security. During his childhood, he showed considerable promise in painting and drawing. Due to strong familial ties with literary and theatrical circles, he spent time studying actor portraits.
At age 14, he was admitted to study under Toyokuni, head of the Utagawa school. Kunisada’s woodblock print work embodies the characteristics of the Utagawa school, focusing on traditional subjects such as kabuki, bijin (beautiful women), shunga (erotic prints), and historical prints. His first known print dates to 1807, his first illustrated book to 1808. Kunisada’s art career took off from the beginning. Many of his works became overnight successes and he was considered the “star attraction” of the Utagawa school. He signed his works “Kunisada,” sometimes with the studio names of Gototei and Kochoro affixed. In 1844, he adopted the name of his teacher and became Toyokuni III. Kunisada passed away in 1864 in the same neighborhood that he was born. He was 70 years old. Kunisada was a highly popular, and the most active, ukiyo-e print artist of the 19th century. In his time, his reputation surpassed those of his contemporaries Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi.
102 Products
Kunisada
Kabuki Actor Sawamura Tossho as Funagashira-Koheiji
JP-107800
Kunisada
Kabuki Actor Nakamura Shikan as Sato Tadanobu
JP5880
Kunisada
Tale of the Soga Brothers: The Killing of Ten
JP-89332
Kunisada
Kan'u by the Craftsman Ichida Shoshichiro of Naniwa
JPR-103984
Kunisada
Kuro Hankan Yoshitsune (Minamoto Yoshitsune)
JPR-209047
Kunisada
Segawa Kikunojo V as Komurasaki (Meiji Edition)
JPR-208042
Kunisada
A Beauty Holding a Puppet of a Sumo Wrestler
JP-208696
Kunisada
A Beauty Holding a Puppet of Sumo Wrestler Shiranui Dakuemon
JP-208695
Kunisada
A Beauty Holding a Puppet of a Sumo Wrestler Hidenoyama Raigoro
JP-208694
Kunisada
A Beauty Holding a Puppet of a Sumo Wrestler Arauma Kichigoro
JP-208693