Utagawa Toyokuni ( ja, 歌川豊国; 1769 in Edo – 24 February 1825 in Edo), also often referred to as Toyokuni I, to distinguish him from the members of his school who took over his ''gō'' (

art-name An art name (pseudonym or pen name), also known by its native names ''hào'' (in Mandarin), ''gō'' (in Japanese), ''ho'' (in Korean), and ''tên hiệu'' (in Vietnamese), is a professional name used by East Asian artists, poets and writers. The ...

) after he died, was a great master of

ukiyo-e Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk t ...

, known in particular for his

kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance- drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is though ...

actor prints. He was the second head of the renowned

Utagawa school The Utagawa school () was one of the main schools of ukiyo-e, founded by Utagawa Toyoharu. It was the largest ukiyo-e school of its period. The main styles were bijin-ga (beautiful women) and uki-e (perspective picture). His pupil, Toyokuni I, too ...

of Japanese woodblock artists, and was the artist who elevated it to the position of great fame and power it occupied for the rest of the nineteenth century.

Biography

He was born in Edo, the son of Kurahashi Gorobei, a carver of dolls and puppets, including replicas of kabuki actors. At around 14, Toyokuni was apprenticed to the first head of the Utagawa house, Utagawa Toyoharu, whom his father knew well and who lived nearby. One of his fellow pupils under Toyoharu was Toyohiro, whose pupil was the great landscape artist

Hiroshige Utagawa Hiroshige (, also ; ja, 歌川広重 ), born Andō Tokutarō (; 1797 – 12 October 1858), was a Japanese ''ukiyo-e'' artist, considered the last great master of that tradition. Hiroshige is best known for his horizontal-format l ...

. In recognition of his artistic ability, Toyokuni later took the name Utagawa Toyokuni, following the common practice of using one syllable of his master's name. Toyokuni seems not to have been an "intuitive genius" determined to forge a new path; rather, he seems to have studied intently those who came before him, particularly

Utamaro Kitagawa Utamaro ( ja, 喜多川歌麿; – 31 October 1806) was a Japanese artist. He is one of the most highly regarded designers of ukiyo-e woodblock prints and paintings, and is best known for his '' bijin ōkubi-e'' "large-heade ...

, Chōbunsai Eishi and

Eishōsai Chōki Eishōsai Chōki ( ja, 栄松斎長喜), also known as Momokawa Chōki, was a designer of ukiyo-e style Japanese woodblock prints who was active from about 1786 to 1808. He, along with Utamaro, was a pupil of Toriyama Sekien (1712–1788). Ch ...

. and through a great deal of hard work produced first a mastery, and then a synthesis of their styles, to create a style of his own. He was known mostly for his prints related to the kabuki theatre, in particular his ''

yakusha-e ''Yakusha-e'' (役者絵), often referred to as "actor prints" in English, are Japanese woodblock prints or, rarely, paintings, of kabuki actors, particularly those done in the '' ukiyo-e'' style popular through the Edo period (1603–1867) an ...

'' actor portraits, a field which he took to new heights. He also, however, produced other genres such as '' musha-e'' warrior prints, ''

shunga is a type of Japanese erotic art typically executed as a kind of ukiyo-e, often in woodblock print format. While rare, there are also extant erotic painted handscrolls which predate ukiyo-e. Translated literally, the Japanese word ''shunga' ...

'' erotica, and most notably ''

bijin-ga is a generic term for pictures of beautiful women () in Japanese art, especially in woodblock printing of the ukiyo-e genre. Definition defines as a picture that simply "emphasizes the beauty of women", and the ''Shincho Encyclopedia o ...

''. In his actor prints, like

Sharaku Tōshūsai Sharaku ( ja, 東洲斎写楽; active 1794–1795) was a Japanese ukiyo-e print designer, known for his portraits of kabuki actors. Neither his true name nor the dates of his birth or death are known. His active career as a woodbloc ...

, one sees the real subject; but his prints merely portrayed what he saw, unlike Sharaku who exaggerated those aspects he saw as the most key. It is said of Toyokuni's prints that they recreate exactly what one would see on stage; they show actors acting, not merely just pictures of actors. Together, these characteristics made Toyokuni's prints far more popular among theatre-goers than Sharaku's, although history has come to judge Sharaku the keener observer and greater artist. His popularity and prolific output may in part have been his undoing, though. From 1803 through 1817, his work became more static, even as it became more popular. He continued to produce large quantities of prints, but the quality as a rule did not match that of his earlier days. Occasional prints from this period, however, show his old brilliance. He died in Edo in 1825, surrounded by many of his pupils.

Names

Like most Edo period Japanese artists, Toyokuni was known by several names throughout his lifetime, some sequentially and some concurrently. * Family name (姓 - ''sei''): Kurahashi (倉橋) * Childhood name (幼名 - ''yōmyō''): Kumakichi (熊吉) * Nickname (通称 - ''tsūshō''): Kumaemon (熊右衛門) *

Art name An art name (pseudonym or pen name), also known by its native names ''hào'' (in Mandarin), ''gō'' (in Japanese), ''ho'' (in Korean), and ''tên hiệu'' (in Vietnamese), is a professional name used by East Asian artists, poets and writers. The ...

s (号 - ''gō''): Utagawa Toyokuni (歌川豊国), Utagawa Ichiyōsai (歌川一陽斎), Ichiyōsai Toyokuni (一陽斎豊国) * Posthumous Buddhist name (戒名 - ''kaimyō'' / 法名 - ''hōmyō''): Tokumyōin Jissaireigō Shinji In addition, the name 'Toyokuni' has been transcribed through several

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

character combinations, both by the artist himself and by those writing about him. * Characters used to write Toyokuni: 豊国, 豊國, 豊圀, 豐國, 豐圀 Today, Toyokuni is almost universally written using the characters 豊国. Each of the other kanji are no longer in common usage.

Pupils

Toyokuni's two major pupils were the woodblock print masters Kunisada and

Kuniyoshi Kuniyoshi (written: 国吉 or 國吉) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Fumio Kuniyoshi (国吉史生, born 1985), Japanese-German rapper *, Japanese footballer *, American painter and photographer *, Japanese bas ...

, but he had a host of students in his school. Indeed, so powerful was the Utagawa school after Toyokuni's time that almost every Japanese print artist of note either had one of these two characters in his ''gō'', or, like

Yoshitoshi Tsukioka Yoshitoshi ( ja, 月岡芳年; also named Taiso Yoshitoshi ; 30 April 1839 – 9 June 1892) was a Japanese printmaker.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005)"Tsukoka Kōgyō"in ''Japan Encyclopedia,'' p. 10 ...

, was a student of one who did. His ''gō'', "Toyokuni", was initially used after his death by his son-in-law, Toyoshige, who is therefore known to us as Toyokuni II. Thereafter, it was handed down and used by each head of the

in turn. Kunisada is thus also known as

Toyokuni III Utagawa Kunisada ( ja, 歌川国貞; 1786 – 12 January 1865), also known as Utagawa Toyokuni III (, ), was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist. He is considered the most popular, prolific and commercially successful designer of ukiyo-e woodblo ...

Retrospective observations

Evaluations of him as an artist are somewhat mixed. Indeed, he himself is reported to have once said: : "My pictures – they are merely something that I draw, and nothing more than that!" The main criticisms of his works relate to his "predominantly imitative" style, and to the "marked decline" in the quality of works from later in his career. However, Toyokuni's style is admired for characteristics such as "decorative bombast", and "bold, taut designs". He is also credited with such innovations as diptych, triptych and polytych formats, and with training future masters of ukiyo-e.Tazawa 1981, 346 His work captured the world around him, particularly the kabuki theatre, with great clarity, and his style was a step forward. In addition, it was commercially successful, and thus freed woodblock prints from many of the restrictive canons which had limited previous generations of artists.

Print series

Here is a very incomplete list of his print series, with dates: * ''Views of Actors on Stage'' (ca. 1793) * ''Sketches of Seven Elegant Paragons of Beauty'' (ca. 1800) * ''Views of Elegant Geisha in Characteristic Poses'' (ca. 1801) * ''Tomimoto the Geisha'' (ca. 1830-1844)

Collections and museums

* Udinotti Museum of Figurative Art

Gallery

File:Utagawa Toyokuni I - The poetess Ono-no Komachi in the rain - Google Art Project.jpg, The poetess Ono-no Komachi in the rain Image:UtagawaToyokuniLoveSuicideKabukiWoodcutCA1800.jpg, Kabuki actors, ca. 1800 File:Kinokuniya.jpg, Kinokuniya Sawamura Sojuro III as Ogishi Kurando, 1794

References

External links

artelino, short article on Toyokuni

a collection of large images by Toyokuni
{{DEFAULTSORT:Utagawa, Toyokuni 1769 births 1825 deaths Ukiyo-e artists Toyokuni Buddhist artists