Toyoharu utagawa kuniyoshi

The Utagawa School was the dominant printmaking lineage of the 19th century and the most commercially successful.

Utagawa kuniyoshi biography: It may have been around that he moved to Edo modern Tokyo , where he studied under Toriyama Sekien. Shita-e drawings are still used in the present time, with rough sketches and more refined brush paintings, on different kinds of paper with and without corrections, depending on the artist. International Ukiyo-e Association: 1— 6, 68— Kuniyasu Utagawa

Founded by Toyoharu and Toyokuni, the school reached its peak with artists like Kunisada and Kuniyoshi. During this period, it became a pop art mass-media enterprise catering to the common people.

Utagawa Toyoharu

Utagawa Toyoharu (–) was the pioneer who adopted the Utagawa name, meaning "River of Song." He could not have foreseen the vast artistic legacy that would arise from his studio.

While the Utagawa School of the 19th century became renowned for its kabuki prints, beauty portraits, and warrior themes, Toyoharu's primary focus was on uki-e, or perspective prints. These works incorporated one-point perspective and landscape techniques inspired by European prints, creating a hybrid art form.

Some of Toyoharu’s prints depicted foreign cities and exotic locations he had never visited, alongside familiar scenes of Edo, kabuki theaters, pleasure quarters, and famous sites (meisho) around the city.

Certain prints were displayed in special viewers with lenses, creating a 3D effect. These were shown at street fairs and festivals for a small fee.

Toyoharu had a long career in ukiyo-e, producing works ranging from bijin prints in the style of Harunobu to paintings influenced by Kitao, Kiyonaga, and Utamaro Kitagawa. This versatility, or "adaptability to the times," may have been passed to his pupils Toyohiro and Toyokuni, who similarly created prints covering a wide variety of subjects and styles.

Utagawa Toyokuni

Among Toyoharu's pupils, Utagawa Toyokuni was by far the more prolific. His success was aided by a large studio of pupils to whom he imparted his style and methods.

Toyohiro, though less commercially oriented than Toyokuni, had a sizable output and is noted for his refined sensibility.

His works often featured unique subjects, limited color palettes, and a haikai-like sense of humor. While his art is graceful and unusual, Toyohiro is best known for mentoring one of ukiyo-e's greatest artists, Hiroshige Ando.

In contrast, Toyokuni mentored many renowned artists who eventually dominated ukiyo-e.

Toyoharu utagawa kuniyoshi julie Miyamoto Musashi [ 10 ] killing a giant lizard. Gallery [ edit ]. Following is a list of some members of the main Utagawa school, giving the succession of names, along with the modern numbering of each:. What was the Utagawa School?

His early students included Kunimasa, Kuninaga, Kunimine, and Kunihisa (a rare example of a female ukiyo-e artist). Later pupils such as Kunisada, Kunimaru, Toyoshige, Kuniyasu, Kuninao, and Kuniyoshi expanded his influence.

Kunisada and Kuniyoshi, in particular, established substantial studios with numerous pupils, including Kunisada II, Kunichika, Sadamasu, Sadakage, Yoshitsuya, Yoshimune, Yoshitora, Yoshiume, Yoshitoshi, and Kyosai Kawanabe.

Although Toyoharu founded the Utagawa lineage, Toyokuni is credited with establishing its distinctive studio production style. His approach included the use of straight lines, figural stereotypes, and broad color areas, enabling rapid production by apprentices, block carvers, and printers.

This style was likely a response to the growing demand for ukiyo-e prints as the market expanded in the 19th century, rather than a deliberate innovation.

The Role of Toyokuni Utagawa in Ukiyo-e

Toyokuni, despite creating works of remarkable beauty and artistic quality, has been one of the most criticized artists in the history of ukiyo-e. He is often blamed for the perceived decline of ukiyo-e as an art form in the nineteenth century, accused of lacking originality and imitating the styles of other successful artists.

Toyoharu utagawa kuniyoshi prints Tools Tools. From the s Toyoharu appears to have dedicated himself to painting, and also produced kabuki programs and billboards after He is also known during this time to have experimented with wide composition, magnifying visual elements in the image for a dramatic, exaggerated effect ex. Timothy Clark, curator of Japanese art at the British Museum , asserts that the repressive conventions of the day produced unintended consequences.

However, Toyokuni was one of the most prolific and popular ukiyo-e designers of his time—a tremendous commercial success. The disparity between modern evaluations and the perception of Toyokuni during his era is striking.

Some scholars, such as Hillier, attribute this success to what they describe as undiscerning customers, claiming they supported Toyokuni despite his alleged shortcomings.

Others point to the expanding print market, where publishers prioritized mass production over producing smaller numbers of higher-quality prints for elite patrons, as the reason for a decline in ukiyo-e quality during the nineteenth century.

These market trends, however, were not of Toyokuni's making. They were simply the conditions under which he worked.

Utagawa kuniyoshi cats His immediate followers, Utagawa Toyohiro and Toyokuni adopted bolder, more sensuous styles than Toyoharu and specialized in different genres — Toyohiro in landscapes and Toyokuni in kabuki actor prints. He remained an apprentice until , at which time he was given the name "Kuniyoshi" and set out as an independent artist. Hidden categories: CS1 errors: missing title Articles containing Japanese-language text Commons category link is locally defined. Archived from the original on January 9,

Blaming him for shifts in the print market overlooks the broader economic and social forces shaping ukiyo-e production at the time.

Different Styles and Tastes

In this challenging environment, Toyokuni and his studio managed to excel, creating works that catered to a wide range of customers. While some of these were formulaic and mediocre, others achieved high artistic standards.

Toyokuni's so-called "mimicry," often criticized today as a lack of creativity, was entirely acceptable—and even common—in the commercial world of ukiyo-e. His early ability to imitate other artists played a significant role in establishing him as a key figure in the field.

The circumstances of Toyokuni's time were not entirely different from those of the mid- to late-eighteenth century, when emerging artists also imitated successful predecessors to gain recognition.

Prints were often produced at different quality levels to meet the varied tastes of consumers, ranging from discriminating patrons to the general public.

The key difference in the nineteenth century was not qualitative but quantitative—a greater volume of works was created for less discerning consumers.

Utagawa kuniyoshi biography

Utagawa kuniyoshi prints

Utagawa kuniyoshi 1861

Critics often argue that the figural style of Toyokuni and the Utagawa School was overly stereotypical, but this could equally be said of many eighteenth-century designers.

For instance, early Torii and Katsukawa artists followed rigid formulas for kabuki depictions, often more stylized than the Utagawa approach. Similarly, artists of bijin-ga (prints of beautiful women) frequently conformed to dominant trends of the time.

The relative abundance of Utagawa prints simply makes their stereotypical elements more noticeable.

It is not uncommon for collectors to start with Utagawa School prints, drawn to their distinctive style, only to later view them as ordinary in comparison to other prints from the nineteenth century. Yet there is nothing inherently ordinary about the Utagawa School's style.

Kunisada and Kuniyoshi

Toyokuni's most prolific pupils, Kunisada and Kuniyoshi, faced similar criticisms. Their productivity exceeded even Toyokuni’s, and they often relied on formulas for their work. However, they also experimented with print production, advancing the field of ukiyo-e.

While individual prints by Kunisada or Kuniyoshi might seem ordinary compared to the bulk of their work, their overall contributions to ukiyo-e were transformative.

Their styles evolved gradually, with periods of stability punctuated by subtle shifts, resulting in significant stylistic changes over the course of their careers.

This incremental evolution, characterized by repetition and variation, is typical of popular culture. While certain formulas are followed to appeal to a broad audience, occasional innovations are necessary to maintain interest.

Kunisada and Kuniyoshi balanced "safe" works in familiar styles with experiments in new approaches, allowing them to periodically refresh their artistic output while remaining commercially successful.

Toyoharu utagawa kuniyoshi The designs combined two popular ukiyo-e subjects, actor portraits and Tokaido landscape prints. Further reading [ edit ]. The key difference in the nineteenth century was not qualitative but quantitative—a greater volume of works was created for less discerning consumers. Life and career [ edit ].

Utagawa Artists and the Pop Culture

The Utagawa School reflects the artistic response to the growing public interest in ukiyo-e as a form of popular culture in Japan. Most nineteenth-century Utagawa School prints functioned less as high art and more as mass media, shaping and sustaining the ukiyo-e subculture.

The Utagawa artists focused on contemporary life and its symbols, often drawing on historical tales and forms to comment on current events. Their prints documented trends, such as the latest fashions, kabuki plays, public scandals, and celebrated figures, providing both information and entertainment.

These prints served to create and reinforce the pop culture heroes of their time, connecting the public to this celebrated world through the act of collecting and displaying ukiyo-e.

No other group of printmakers was as adept as the Utagawa School at producing a constant stream of works that reflected the floating world. Their prints were as ubiquitous and socially significant as magazines or newspapers, making ukiyo-e a widely accessible form of mass media in the nineteenth century.

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