(2) Sets Japanese Woodblocks Prints, Diptych by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861), Triptych by Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865). 

Largest Overall Size: 21 x 37 in. 

Largest Sight Size: 14 x 30 in. 

#7208 . 

Utagawa Kuniyoshi was born on January 1st, 1798, the son of a silk-dyer named Yanagiya Kichiyemon. Originally named Yoshisaburō, he assisted his father from early childhood as a pattern designer, and some have suggested that this experience influenced his rich use of color and textile patterns in prints. Kuniyoshi was particularly drawn to ukiyo-e warrior prints, and pictures of artisans and commoners as found in craftsmen manuals. Yoshisaburō’s drawing talents attracted the attention of the famous ukiyo-e print master Utagawa Toyokuni, who took him on as an apprentice when he was twelve. He remained an apprentice until 1814, at which time he was given the name “Kuniyoshi” and set out as an independent artist. That same year he produced his first published work, the illustrations for the kusazōshi gōkan Gobuji Chūshingura, a parody of the original Chūshingura story. Despite putting out a few more works over the next three years, he went through a creative drought until the late 1820s, likely due to a lack of commissions and competition with other artists of the Utagawa school. He turned to creating bijin-ga (beautiful women) pictures, mainly for his own amusement, and experimented heavily with light-and-shadow effects after being exposed to Western art. While selling used tatami mats to survive, he had a chance encounter with Kunisada, a fellow pupil of Utagawa, who collaborated with him on a number of ukiyo-e series, and who inspired him to develop his own individual style. He began creating heroic triptychs, which he eventually became synonymous with. In 1827 he received his first major commission, “Tsūzoku Suikoden gōketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori” (“One hundred and eight heroes of the popular Suikoden all told”), based on the incredibly popular Chinese tale “Shuihu Zhuan.” Kuniyoshi illustrated individual heroes on single sheets in locations that fit together like puzzles when put next to each other, and frequently drew tattoos on his heroes, a novelty which influenced Edo fashion. He became one of the last great masters of ukiyo-e woodblock prints and painting, with a range of subjects including landscapes, Kabuki actors, cats, and mythical animals, with particular focus on highly detailed battle scenes that incorporated aspects of Western representation. The Tenpō Reforms of 1841 to 1843 aimed to alleviate Japan’s ongoing economic crisis by controlling public displays of luxury and wealth, and the illustration of courtesans and actors in ukiyō-e was officially banned at that time. Ironically these repressive limitations became a kind of artistic challenge which actually encouraged Kuniyoshi’s resourcefulness, turning to caricature and allegory to create barely veiled criticism of the shogunate. His exaggerated and more cartoonish style had long-lasting repercussions, even being a pivotal influence on early manga. In 1856 Kuniyoshi began to have difficulty moving his limbs, and his work became noticeably less detailed. In 1860 he witnessed the opening of the port city of Yokohama to foreigners, and was one of the first Japanese artists to produce work depicting Westerners. He is also acknowledged as one of the most excellent teachers of the Utagawa school, and had numerous pupils who continued his style, including Yoshitoshi, Yoshitora, Yoshiiku, Yoshikazu, Yoshitsuya, and Yoshifuji. He died in April 1861 in his home in Genyadana. 

Born in the Honjo district of Edo in 1786 as Kunisada Tsunoda, Utagawa Kunisada’s family owned a small ferryboat service. Although his father, an amateur poet, died when Kunisada was a child, the family business provided him financial security and the ability to pursue the arts. During his childhood he showed considerable promise in painting and drawing, and thanks to his familial ties with literary and theatrical circles he spent a great deal of time studying actor portraits. At the age of 14 he was admitted to study under Toyokuni I, the head of the Utagawa school. His works embodied the traditional subjects of his master such as kabuki, bijin (beautiful women), shunga (erotic prints), and historical prints. His first known print dates to 1807, and his first illustrated book to 1808. Successful throughout his life, he expanded his masters’ ukiyo-e style into new formats, credited with innovative diptych, triptych, and polyptych designs that increased the popularity of woodblock prints exponentially. He often signed his works “Kunisada” or “Ichiyusai,” sometimes with the studio names of Gototei and Kochoro affixed. In 1844, he adopted the name of his teacher and became Toyokuni III, since Toyokuni’s son-in-law, Toyoshige, had adopted the gō earlier and became Toyokuni II. Kunisada passed away in 1865 in the very same neighborhood where he was born.