Utagawa Kunisada II (1823-1880) Japanese, Woodblock Print Figural. 

Condition: Commensurate with age. 

Overall: 18 x 13 in. 

Sight: 13 x 8 in. 

#5055 #14j . 

Little is known of the early life of Utagawa Kunisada II (1823-1880), a Japanese ukiyo-e print designer, one of three to take the name “Utagawa Kunisada” and become head of the Utagawa school. He signed much of his early work “Kunimasa III,” and his earliest known prints date to 1844. Kunisada I officially adopted him in 1846 after he married the master’s daughter Osuzu. He took the name Kunisada II around 1850 when he inherited the house of Kunisada I. Although he attempted to change his name once more in the 1860s to Toyokuni III, there were three artists called Toyokuni before him, so Kunisada II is now often referred to as Toyokuni IV. Kunisada II worked in the style of his master, but never achieved the same level of success. His prints include over 40 series, mostly of actors (yakusha-e), as well portraits of beauties, illustrations of scenes from literature, erotica, and other subjects. He illustrated nearly 200 books. One of his most celebrated actor series from 1852, Hakkendun inu no sōshi no uchi (“The Tale of the Eight Dog Heroes”), is drawn from Kyokutei Bakin’s epic novel Nansō Satomi Hakkenden, written from 1814 to 1842 and published in 106 volumes. Kunisada II’s popularity waned in the Meiji period (1868-1912), and he appears to have stopped making prints after 1874. He died on July 20th, 1880 and was buried at Banshōin Kōunji. His Buddhist posthumous name was Sankōin Hōkokujutei Shinji. His most well-known student is Utagawa Kunisada III (1848-1920). Kunisada II usually signed prints either “Kunisada ga” (drawn by Kunisada) or “Kunisada hitsu” (from the brush of Kunisada), never signing as Kunisada II. His signature can be distinguished from that of Kunisada I in that the sada kanji is straight in the signature of Kunisada I, but angular in the signature of Kunisada II. Furthermore, Kunisada I took the name “Toyokuni III” in 1844, and never included the “Kunisada” signature within the Toshidama cartouche, as Kunisada II often did in the 1850s and 1860s.

Commensurate with age.