About the artist
Toyokuni Utagawa was an ukiyo-e artist active during the late 18th through early 19th century. Considered one of the art forms’ most influential artists, Toyokuni catapulted the Utagawa school to fame through his imagery of kabuki actors, beautiful women, book illustrations, and more. Born to a puppet and doll sculptor in Edo, Toyokuni Utagawa entered the artistic studio of Toyoharu Utagawa (c.1735-1814) at the age of 14. Toyokuni’s early work focused on courtesans, finding inspiration in the beauties of his contemporaries such as Utamaro Kitagawa (c. 1753-1806), before expanding his oeuvre to stars of the kabuki stage. Toyokuni’s popularity reached new heights around 1794 with the success of the series Portraits of Actors on Stage. Throughout the 1790s and 1800s, Toyokuni captured not only actors’ stage roles, but also their offstage lives and individual personalities in his yakusha-e (actor prints). Toyokuni held a strong reputation during his lifetime and taught a host of talented students who would dominate 19th-century ukiyo-e, including Kunisada Utagawa (1786-1865) and Kuniyoshi Utagawa (1798-1861).