19th CenturyFine ArtFine Art PrintsJapaneseWoodcut

Utagawa Kunisada – Toyokuni III

 Utagawa Kunisada – Toyokuni III

Utagawa Kunisada

also known as Utagawa Toyokuni III

(1786 – 1865)

Kabuki Actors

Oban format
Around 10 X 15 inches 25 X 38 cm

Condition: Sheet has wear, soiling and creasing as shown. including spotting on the cheak of one of the actors.

Utagawa Kunisada

1786-1865

Also known as: Toyokuni III or Utagawa Toyokuni III


Kunisada Utagawa was one of the most popular, prolific and commercially successful designer of Japanese woodblock prints (ukiyo-e) in the Edo period.  As a young man in Edo, he became an apprentice to Toyokuni, the great master of the Utagawa school, and followed in his footsteps as a producer of Kabuki and actor prints, celebrating known theatrical and demi-monde personalities of the period.  A well-known trendsetter in his time, he was constantly in the vanguard of fashion, and his style evolved again and again over his lifetime.