Tokoyuni III (1786-1864) Japanese, Framed Sumo Wrestling Print. A later printing of an original triptych from the mid 1800s combined into one image. Depicts a rough clash between two sumo wrestlers in a large outdoor stadium while referees and a large crowd look on. 

Frame: 12 1/2 x 21 1/4 in.

Sight: 8 x 16 3/4 in.

#2564. 

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 1864 in the very same neighborhood where he was born.