Kuniyoshi (1797 - 1861 )
The son of silk dyer, Kuniyoshi Utagawa was born into the Igusa family in Edo. Little is known about his very early years, though he is said to have shown remarkable talent from a young age. Kuniyoshi began his ukiyo-e career as a pupil of Shunei. At age 14 he was accepted to study the art of woodblock printing under Toyokuni I and, in time, would become one of his most successful students. In 1814, he left Toyokuni’s studio to pursue a career as an independent ukiyo-e artist. Initially, he had little success, selling tatami mats in order to support himself. However, his fortunes changed in 1827 with his dramatic series 108 Heroes of the Suikoden. From that point forward, the public hungered for his portrayals of famous samurai and legendary heroes. Kuniyoshi Utagawa worked across all genres, producing some brilliant landscapes and charming bijin-ga (pictures of beautiful women). He died in the spring of 1861 from complications of a stroke.
In direct contrast to the peaceful views of a scenic Japan provided by Hiroshige and Hokusai, the following decades saw a rise of the fierce, fearsome and fantastical in ukiyo-e. Kuniyoshi welcomed this changing public taste. He had a ravenous imagination and the full scope of his work reveals an aesthetic sensibility capable of capturing almost any experience. No doubt, however, his particular genius felt most at home in the world of martial glory, where epic battles decided the fate of empires and fierce warriors clashed to the death. Kuniyoshi's Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints were so popular in his time that he received requests for tattoo designs.
Japanese Woodblock Prints (1800 - 1868)
By the 19th century, Japanese woodblock prints achieved extraordinary popularity. While the shogunate issued a battery of censorship reforms throughout the 1800s, artists ignored and evaded restrictions with images of indulgent beauties and vibrant kabuki actors. As constraints tightened in the 1840s, bijin-ga (pictures of beautiful women) became earthier in prints by Eizan and Eisen, while kabuki actors persevered in the work of Kunisada (aka Toyokuni III). During this period, ukiyo-e artists also added landscapes, warriors, ghosts and scenes of everyday life to their oeuvre. Artists such as Hokusai and Hiroshige indulged a national wanderlust through Meisho-e or “famous place pictures,” while Kuniyoshi championed musha-e, a genre of warrior and legendary pictures.
337 Products
Kuniyoshi
Kenshin Leading Furious Charge into the Takeda Troops at the Great Battle of Kawanakajima
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Koman Swimming across Lake Biwa with Minamoto Banner Attacked by Sanemori (Taira Clan)
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Scene from Kabuki Play: Yoshibei, Chokichi and Yoshibei's Wife Oume
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Kuzunoha Fox from Shinoda Forest and Abe no Yasuna
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Miyamoto Musashi Knocking Down Shirakura Dengoemon and His Men with Broken Beam
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Chinese Heroes Pledge Brotherhood in Peach Garden
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Musashibo Benkei and Minamoto no Ushiwakamaru on Gojo Bridge
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Young Samurai Shume no Kokingo, Igami no Gonta and Gonta's Sister Osato
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Minamoto no Yoriie Watching Asahina Yoshihide Fighting Two Crocodiles at Kotsubo in Kamakura
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Takeda Shingen Destroys Suwa Yorishige in Battle
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The Female Warrior Tomoe Gozen at Awazugahara Battle
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Minamoto no Tametomo Sinking the Ship with a Single Arrow
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