Utagawa Kunisada I (Toyokuni III)

Born Edo, 1786; died Edo, 1864.

Woodblock print designer and book illustrator. As a child he was gifted at drawing and produced yakushae (‘pictures of actors’) without formal training. Around 1801 he became a student of (2) Utagawa Toyokuni I. Kunisada’s earliest works are the illustrations for go-kan (popular novels), Oisenukado kesho- no Wakamizu (‘Fresh water for make-up’; 1807; Tokyo, Dai To-kyu- Mem. Found.). In the following year he became famous for his illustrations of Kitao masanobu’s go-kan, Kagamiyama homare no adauchi (‘Honourable revenge of Kagamlyama’; Tokyo, Waseda U.). A narrow-format (hosoban) bijinga (‘picture of beautiful women’), Fu-ryu- mitate O-tsue (‘Fanciful analogy of O-tsue’; 1809; Tokyo, Sakai Col.), is his earliest known single-sheet print, which he signed Kunisada. From 1811 he began to use the artist’s name Gototei. The taut, powerful lines of the high-spirited five-piece bijinga series Hokkoku goshikizumi and the yakushae series O-atari kyo-gen no uchi are evidence of a maturing style in this period. In the early 1820s Kunisada’s career reached its peak, with the bijinga series Hoshi no shimo to-sei fu-zoku (‘Starry frost modern manners’; see fig.), To-sei sanju-ni so- (‘Thirty-two modern faces’; Tokyo, Seikado- Bunko) and Imafu- kesho- kagami (‘Modern make-up mirror; priv. col.). After the death of Toyokuni I in 1825, Kunisada became the de facto head of the Utagawa studio, supplanting Toyokuni I’s adopted son, Toyoshige (Toyokuni II; 1802–35). Kunisada’s prints were admired more for their superb technique than for their feeling or warmth. The works of his later period are marred by conventionality caused by overproduction. He continued to be popular, however, working until the year of his death. He was succeeded by Kunisada II (1823–80).

Susumu Matsudaira and Mark H. Sandler. "Utagawa." In Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online, http://www.oxfordartonline.com.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/subscriber/article/grove/art/T087437pg5 (accessed May 8, 2012).