Kuniyoshi Utagawa

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Kuniyoshi, Utagawa ... 歌川国芳
Ichiyusai (一勇斎)

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (Japanese: 歌川国芳)
(1797 - April 14, 1861)
was one of the last great masters of the Japanese ukiyo-e style of woodblock prints and painting and belonged to the Utagawa school.

He was born in 1797, the son of a silk-dyer, originally named Yoshisaburō. Apparently he assisted his father's business as a pattern designer, and some have suggested that this experience influenced his rich use of color and textile patterns in prints. It is said that Kuniyoshi was impressed, at an early age of seven or eight, by ukiyo-e warrior prints, and by pictures of artisans and commoners (as depicted in craftsmen manuals), and it is possible these influenced his own later prints.

His economic situation turned desperate at one point when he was forced to sell used tatami mats. A chance encounter with his prosperous fellow pupil Kunisada, to whom he felt (with some justice) that he was superior in artistic talent, led him to redouble his efforts (but did not create any lingering ill-feeling between the two, who later collaborated on a number of series). During the 1820s, Kuniyoshi produced a number of heroic triptychs that show the first signs of an individual style. In 1827 he received his first major commission for the series, One hundred and eight heroes of the popular Suikoden all told (Tūszoku Suikoden gōketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori), based on the incredibly popular Chinese tale, the Shuihu zhuan. In this series Kuniyoshi illustrated individual heroes on single-sheets, drawing tattoos on his heroes, a novelty which soon influenced Edo fashion. The Suikoden series became extremely popular in Edo, and the demand for Kuniyoshi’s warrior prints increased, gaining him entrance into the major ukiyō-e and literary circles.

He continued to produce warrior prints, drawing much of his subjects from war tales such as Tale of the Heike (Heikei monogatari) and The rise and fall of the Minamoto and the Taira (Genpei seisuki). His warrior prints were unique in that they depicted legendary popular figures with an added stress on dreams, ghostly apparitions, omens, and superhuman feats. This subject matter is instilled in his works The ghost of Taira Tomomori at Daimotsu bay (Taira Tomomori borei no zu) and the 1839 triptych The Gōjō bridge (Gōjō no bashi no zu), where he manages to invoke an effective sense of action intensity in his depiction of the combat between Yoshitsune and Benkei. These new thematic styles satisfied the public’s interest in the ghastly, exciting, and bizarre that was growing during the time.

In the late 1840s, Kuniyoshi began again to illustrate actor prints, this time evading censorship (or simply evoking creativity) through childish, cartoon-like portraits of famous kabuki actors, the most notable being "Scribbling on the storehouse wall" (Nitakaragurakabe no mudagaki). Here he creatively used elementary, child-like script sloppily written in kana under the actor faces. Reflecting his love for felines, Kuniyoshi also began to use cats in the place of humans in kabuki and satirical prints. He is also known during this time to have experimented with ‘wide-screen’ composition, magnifying visual elements in the image for a dramatic, exaggerated effect (ex. Masakado’s daughter the princess Takiyasha, at the old Soma palace).

In 1856 Kuniyoshi suffered from palsy, which caused him much difficulty in moving his limbs. It is said that his works form this point onward were noticeably weaker in the use of line and overall vitality. Before his death in 1861, Kuniyoshi was able to witness the opening of the port city of Yokohama to foreigners, and in 1860 produced two works depicting Westerners in the city (Yokohama-e, ex. View of Honcho, Yokohama and The pleasure quarters, Yokohama).
He died at the age of 65 in March of 1861 in his home in Genyadana.
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Woodblock prints by Kuniyoshi .


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Samurai encountering Fudo Myo-o at a graveyard


source : commons.wikimedia.org

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Daruma


source : commons.wikimedia.org

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Daruma's Buffoonery (Dôke Daruma asobi)
Publisher: Horimasa 1847

After the imposition of a ban on actor prints in 1842, Kuniyoshi produced numerous humorous designs with thinly disguised actors’ portraits. In this series, well known actors are portrayed as Daruma, without any mention of their names. This series is listed as number 191 in Kuniyoshi by Basil William Robinson (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1961).
The prints in this series are each about 14 by 10 inches (36 by 25 centimeters), a size known as ôban.

Actors Nakamura Utaemon IV (right), Ichikawa Kuzô II (center) and Matsumoto Kôshirô VI (left) playing the game of ken

Actors Ichimura Uzaemon XII (right), Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII (center) and Onoe Kikujirô II (left)

Sumidagawa
Actors Bandô Shûka (right), Sawamura Sôjûrô V (center) and Onoe Kikugorô III (left)

Otowa no Taki
Actors Badnô Shûka and Onoe Kikugorô III

CLICK here to look at the prints :
source : 　www.kuniyoshiproject.com / William Pearl
「流行達磨あそび」

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Artistic Performances of Daruma-monks
(Tôsei Daruma no gei zukushi)
Description:
Five variations of Daruma: two squabbling women, two jugglers, and the actor Ichikawa Danjûrô VII as the aged Daruma, whose nose was so long that a thread, wound around his nose and one ear, would actually hold
Date: c. 1842


Toys with Actor's Expressions
(Sono omokage teasobi zukushi)
Description:
A lion's mask, a Daruma doll, a female doll with bare shoulders, an owl and a male doll playing with a piece of paper (fukigami)

Daruma Utsushi-E
Women and children enjoying shadow pictures
Date: c. 1832-1844

CLICK here to look at these prints :
source : www.kuniyoshiproject.com / William Pearl


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More by Kuniyoshi

Badger Tanuki and his big scrotum .. with Daruma

Daruma and Tokusakari ... two-way pictures, 上下絵　（じょうげえ jooge-e）

The Monster Cats enjoying a Dance


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二代歌川広重（歌川重宣）Utagawa Shigenobu
Shigenobu Utagawa, Hiroshige II
(1826 - 1869)

Utagawa Shigenobu (1826-1869) was the chief pupil of the the second great master of the Japanese landscape woodblock print, Hiroshige. He took over his master's go 'Hiroshige' on the latter's death, and is now principally known by it, being more usually referred to as 'Hiroshige II'.
He was born into a family of fire-watchmen, like his master Hiroshige I. He was originally named Suzuki Chimpei, and as his artistic career began, he was given the name Shigenobu (重宣) by his master Hiroshige I. He was made part of his master's household, and married Hiroshige I's daughter Tatsu.
MORE
source : mercury.lcs.mit.edu J. Noel Chiappa



source : www.jti.co.jp

新板手遊尽し Teasobi Tsukushi
Things to play with, including a Daruma だるま
When these prints became more popular, Daruma was one of the common features in them.


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Alphabetical Index of the Daruma Museum
worldkigo
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