19th CenturyFine ArtFine Art PrintsJapaneseWoodcut

Kunisada Utagawa (1786 – 1865) – Actors – Woodblock Prints (Sold)

Kunisada Utagawa – Actor with a hat

Japanese Woodblocks

Two 19th Century Japanese woodblock prints by Kunisada Utagawa (1786 – 1865). Signed “Toyokuni ga”

Actor with a Hat
Actor with a Fan

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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.