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.
32 Products
Toyokuni III
Sumo Wrestlers on the Ring for Entering Ceremony
JP1-75962
Toyokuni III
Plum Blossoms and Snow through the Window, the Nature of Youth
JP2805
Toyokuni III
Bando Takesaburo I as Kokura-an Chokichi and Ichikawa Kodanji IV as Moremore Yoshizo
JPR-104022
Toyokuni III
Kabuki Actors Seki Sanjuro III as Odera Shobei (R), Ichikawa Kodanji IV (with tattoo arm) as Oniazami Seikichi (C), Iwai Kumezaburo III as Izayoi Osayo (L)
JPR-104030
Toyokuni III
Kabuki Actors Kawarazaki Gonjuro I as Matsubaya Bunzo, Onoe Kikugoro V as Matsubaya Matsuyama and Ichikawa Kodanji IV as Yosobei's Son Yokichi, and an unidentified actor as a Police Officer
JPR-104024