Yoshiume (1819 - 1879 )
Yoshiume Utagawa was an Osaka-based ukiyo-e artist best known for his chuban-format actor prints. He also produced genre prints, landscapes, and illustrated books. According to the British Museum, his earliest known work, a yaskusha-e (actor print), dates to 1841. Born in Osaka, Yoshiume traveled to Edo in c.1847 to study under Kuniyoshi Utagawa. Roughly a decade later, Yoshiume returned home to Osaka, where he went on to found his own school and mentor many students. Other go (artist names) include "Ichiosai" and "Yabairo."
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.