Utagawa Yoshitora (Circa 1825-1882) Japanese, (2) Woodblocks. Both works depict sumo wrestlers, the one on the left from the Sakaigawa stable and the one on the right from the Makuuchi League in the 1840s. These were likely made while he was still under the tutelage of Utagawa Kuniyoshi, as some of the kanji on both pieces suggests. Both come with a backing sheet stamped "Original Guarantee by Sakai Co. Ltd. Established 1874 Tokyo Japan" along with a pencil written attribution: "By Yoshitora 1840-1870 (working period)." 

Overall Size: 18 x 12 1/2 in. 

Sight Size: 14 1/2 x 10 in. 

Utagawa Yoshitora was born in Edo (modern day Tokyo), Japan around 1825, and was the oldest pupil of Utagawa Kuniyoshi, becoming a prolific designer of ukiyo-e Japanese woodblock prints, particularly warriors, kabuki actors, and beautiful women. He eventually illustrated over 100 books and produced over 60 print series, but in 1849 he produced a print that was interpreted as a criticism of the Tokugawa Shogunate that landed him in prison for fifty days, leading Kuniyoshi to expel him from his studio. Nevertheless, this led to his most prolific period as he moved out from under the shadow of his former master, and today he is best remembered for his many fascinating depictions of foreign locations in the 1860s and 70s including New York, Paris, and London. However, it is unknown if he ever actually saw the places he depicted or merely created images based on conversations with people from those areas as Westernization gripped the formerly isolationist country. He collaborated on a number of landscape series, and in the Meiji period he worked in newspapers, continuing to produce prints right up until his death in 1882.

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