Utagawa Kuniyoshi

In this Japanese name, the family name is Utagawa.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (Japanese: 歌川 國芳, [ɯtaɡaɰa kɯɲijoɕi]; January 1, 1798 – April 14, 1861) also called Kuniyoshi, was a Japanese artist. He was a masters of the ukiyo-e style of woodblock prints and painting.

Career

Kuniyoshi was part of the Utagawa school of artists.

The range of Kuniyoshi's subjects included landscapes, beautiful women, Kabuki actors, cats, and mythical animals. He is known images of the battles of samurai and legendary heroes. His work was affected by Western art and caricature.

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi was one of his students.

His work influenced Toyohara Chikanobu.

Takashi Murakami credits the influence of Kuniyoshi in his work.

List of print series

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• Illustrated Abridged Biography of the Founder (c. 1831)
• Famous Views of the Eastern Capital (c. 1834)
• Heroes of Our Country's Suikoden (c. 1836)
• Stories of Wise and Virtuous Women (c. 1841-1842)
• Fifty-Three Parallels for the Tōkaidō (1843–1845)
• Twenty-Four Paragons of Filial Piety (1843–1846)
• Mirror of the Twenty-Four Paragons of Filial Piety (1844–1846)
• Six Crystal Rivers (1847–1848)
• Fidelity in Revenge (c. 1848)
• Twenty-Four Chinese Paragons of Filial Piety (c. 1848)
• Sixty-Nine Stations along the Kisokaido (1852)
• Portraits of Samurai of True Loyalty (1852)
• 24 Generals of the Kai Provence (1853)

Gallery

Multi-panel impressions, tryptichs

• 
  Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre
• 
  Kajiwara Kagesue, Sasaki Takatsuna, and Hatakeyama Shigetada racing to cross the Uji River before the second battle of Uji during the Genpei War

Yoko-e, a print in horizontal or "landscape" format

• 
  At the shore of the Sumida River
• 
  Mt fuji from Sumida
• 
  Pilgrims in the waterfall

Single panel format

• 
  Banners for boys' day festival
• 
  Courtesan in training
• 
  from the series Heroes of Our Country's Suikoden
• 
  from the series Heroes of Our Country's Suikoden
• 
  Hanagami Danjo no jo Arakage fighting a giant salamander
• 
  Miyamoto Musashi killing a giant shark
• 
  Hatsuhana doing penance under the Tonosawa waterfall
• 
  Keyamura Rokusuke under the Hikosan Gongen waterfall
• 
  Kakinomoto no Hitomaro

Themes

Kuniyoshi made many images of cats.

• 
  Cats forming the characters for catfish
• 
  Four cats in different poses

• 
  Cats suggested as The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō

.

Kuniyoshi made images which were caricatures.

• 
  Scribbling on the storehouse wall
• 
  At first glance he looks very fierce, but he is actually a kind person

Other websites

• University of Vienna, Ukiyo-e Caricatures 1842-1905
• JapanSociety.org, Graphic Heroes, Magic Monsters Archived 2010-03-13 at the Wayback Machine
• Kuniyoshi Project
• Artencyclopedia.com, Utagawa Kuniyoshi
• Artelino.com, Utagawa Kuniyoshi