Kunitenrai (19th Century) Japanese, Framed Woodblock Print. In hanga style, showing a cadre of kabuki actors. Kanji throughout. Label on back indicates the artist and the title "Hanazoroi Gonin Otoko," the name of a kabuki play from the 1860s. Label on back with information about the piece. 

Overall Size: 22 x 16 1/4 in. 

Sight Size: 14 1/4 x 9 1/4 in.

#6321 . 

Kunitenrai (also known as Kokutenrai) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist who flourished in the late 19th Century. Almost nothing is known about his personal life or career, with his earliest work appearing as an instructional pamphlet on how to draw kabuki actors in 1868 and his last known work a nishiki-e depiction of horses from 1892. He was apparently a pupil of Utagawa Kuniteru (1818-1860), from whom he developed an interest in Western influence on Japan and the concept of caricature. His later works in particular show a marked shift in style to softer, almost pastel-like coloring and themes and images reminiscent of French posters from the turn of the 20th Century. Only a few of his works have survived, but he collaborated on at least one occasion with Toyohara Kunichika, who likely helped him to find work printing for the late 19th Century publishing house run by Hisayoshi Yazawa, with most of his extant works found in their archives.