Toyokuni III (AKA Kunisada,1786 - 1864 )
Toyokuni III, also known as Kunisada, 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 ukiyo-e woodblock prints embody the characteristics of the Utagawa school, focusing on traditional subjects such as kabuki, bijin (beautiful women), shunga (erotic prints), and historical prints. Kunisada's first known woodblock print dates to 1807, his first illustrated book to 1808. His 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, Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the 19th century. In his time, his reputation surpassed those of his contemporaries Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi.
Ukiyo-e | Japanese Woodblock Prints | Ronin Gallery
Explore the largest collection of 17th-19th century original Japanese woodblock prints in the United States at Ronin Gallery. Ukiyo-e, or “pictures of the floating world,” captured the exciting urban popular culture of the Edo period (1603-1868), promoting its beauty, fashions and heroes. While the Buddhist term ukiyo originally emphasized the transitory nature of human life, during the 17th century the term gradually shifted its reference to the ephemeral world of pleasure and indulgence. From 17th century Buddhist woodcuts through 19th century Japanese ukiyo-e print masters, enter a vibrant world of enchanting landscapes and sublime nature studies by Hokusai and Hiroshige, dramatic kabuki actors by Sharaku and Toyokuni, fierce samurai by Kuniyoshi, and elegant beauties by Utamaro. With the ravages of time, war and fire, today few of these precious original Japanese woodblock prints survive outside of museums and important private collections.
245 Products
Toyokuni III
Chapter Miotsukushi: Channel Buoys, Bijin Holding a Mirror
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Toyokuni III
Chapter Sekiya: The Gate House, Oiran and Palanquin
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Toyokuni III
Tsuchinoe: Jiraiya and Arashi Yuminosuke
JPR-209728
Toyokuni III
Kabuki Actor Bando Shuka I as Shiranui Daijin
JP-209831
Toyokuni III
Kabuki Actors Seki Sanjuro III as Iyami Kincho, and Bando Hikosaburo V as Iyami Kingoro
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Toyokuni III
Fujisuke, Faithful Servant of the Ishii House
JP-209825
Toyokuni III
Kabuki Actor Sawamura Tossho II as Hiranoya Kojiro
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Toyokuni III
Kabuki Actor Ichikawa Ebizo V as Banzuiin Chobei
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Toyokuni III
Cherry Blossoms in Full Bloom in the New Yoshiwara
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Toyokuni III
Poem by Kotaikogu no Tayu Shunzei: Akazawa Junai and Otonai
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Toyokuni III
Kabuki Actors Ichimura Takematsu III as Senzai (R), Ichimura Kakitsu IV as Sanbaso (C), and Ichikawa Kodanji IV as Egami no Fukusuke (L)
JPR-209710
Toyokuni III
Dog: Princess Fuse and Kanamari Daisuke
JPR-209730
Toyokuni III
Kabuki Actor Nakamura Shikan IV as Ishikawa Goemon
JPR-209719
Toyokuni III
Kabuki Actor Sawamura Tanosuke III as the Tengu Boy Kiritaro
JPR-209720
Toyokuni III
Kabuki Actor Bando Hikosaburo V as Hakamadare Yasusuke
JPR-209718