Items Similar to Samurai Warriors Under Cherry Blossoms — 1850s Japanese Kabuki Woodblock
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 5
Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III)Samurai Warriors Under Cherry Blossoms — 1850s Japanese Kabuki Woodblock1849-53
1849-53
About the Item
Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III), 'Kabuki Actors as Two Samurai Warriors in Confrontation Under Cherry Blossoms', woodblock print, 1849-53. Signed in the left panel, lower left, and right panel with the artist’s seal in red, lower right. Good impressions with unfaded colors, apparently never previously framed, in overall good condition. Archivally sleeved, unmatted, unframed.
Oban Diptych; sheet size approximately 15 x 10 inches each panel, 15 x 20 inches the two panels together.
Published by Minatoya Kohei, Edo (Tokyo).
ABOUT THE ARTIST
“Kunisada became a leading artist of the ukiyo-e school at an early age thanks to his amazing skill in capturing the likeliness of kabuki actors, creating must-have souvenirs for their legions of fans.”
— Sarah E. Thompson, Kuniyoshi x Kunisada, MFA Publications, Boston, 2017
Utagawa Kunisada (also Toyokuni III, 1786-1865) is considered the most popular, prolific, and commercially successful designer of ukiyo-e woodblock prints in 19th-century Japan. In his own time, his reputation far exceeded that of his contemporaries, Hokusai, Hiroshige, and Kuniyoshi, but a scholarly appreciation of his work has been long in coming. It was not until the early 1990s, with the appearance of Jan van Doesburg's overview of the artistic development of Kunisada and Sebastian Izzard's extensive study of his work, that this began to change, with Kunisada more clearly revealed as one of the 'giants' of the Japanese print that he was.
Kunisada’s career spanned five decades, during which his work remained phenomenally popular, making him the all-time bestselling designer of Japanese woodblock prints. Almost from the first day of his activity, and even at the time of his death in 1865, Kunisada was a trendsetter in the art of Japanese woodblock printmaking. Always at the vanguard of his time and in tune with the public's tastes, he continuously developed stylistically, sometimes radically, and did not adhere to the formal constraints set by his contemporaries. His productivity was extraordinary—about 14,500 of his woodblock designs have been cataloged. Most of Kunisada's work was of actors portrayed in current popular plays; most of the balance was of women in the latest fashions. The works dated with quickly changing fashions, and there was a constant demand for new prints to replace the outdated ones.
A well-known anecdote recorded in Biographies of the Utagawa School Artists by Iijima Kyoshin, written at the beginning of the 1890s, relates that the young Kuniyoshi, having languished for years as an artist, once observed Kunisada, ten years older and already an enormously popular artist, dressed in rich clothes and heartily enjoying himself with a beautiful geisha along the roads in Edo. Spurred by envy, Kuniyoshi vowed to renew his devotion to his art and later achieved the success he craved. Kunisada was so famous that, to help his friend Hiroshige promote the first edition of the Tokaido, he designed his own series of The fifty-three stations of the Tokaido, adding one of his popular beauties in the foreground of each of Hiroshige's landscapes.
Kunisada’s woodblock prints are represented in numerous collections worldwide, including the Art Institute of Chicago; British Museum (London); Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science; Honolulu Museum of Art; Indianapolis Museum of Art; The Israel Museum (Jerusalem); Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Minneapolis Institute of Art; Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution; Portland Art Museum; Tokyo Fuji Art Museum (Tokyo); University of California, Berkeley; Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery; Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam); Victoria and Albert Museum (London); and the Worcester Art Museum.
- Creator:Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (1786-1864, Japanese)
- Creation Year:1849-53
- Dimensions:Height: 15 in (38.1 cm)Width: 10 in (25.4 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Myrtle Beach, SC
- Reference Number:
About the Seller
5.0
Recognized Seller
These prestigious sellers are industry leaders and represent the highest echelon for item quality and design.
Platinum Seller
These expertly vetted sellers are 1stDibs' most experienced sellers and are rated highest by our customers.
Established in 1995
1stDibs seller since 2016
254 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: 1 hour
Associations
International Fine Print Dealers Association
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Myrtle Beach, SC
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
More From This SellerView All
- 'Tokaido' — Mt. Fuji Rising – Mid-Nineteenth Century Woodblock PrintBy Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III)Located in Myrtle Beach, SCUtagawa Kunisada (Tokoyuni III), 'Tokaido', color woodblock, 1863. Signed in the cartouche, lower right. A fine impression, with rich, fresh colors and pronounced woodgrain, the full...Category
1860s Edo Figurative Prints
MaterialsWoodcut
- 'Sailing' — 1930s Modernism, New York City WPALocated in Myrtle Beach, SCFred Becker, 'Sailing', wood engraving, c. 1935, edition c. 25. Signed and titled in pencil. A fine, richly-inked impression, on off-white wove paper; with full margins (1 to 2 15/16...Category
1930s Modern Figurative Prints
MaterialsWoodcut
- Domjulien, Haute Vosges, FranceBy John DePolLocated in Myrtle Beach, SCJohn DePol, 'Domjulien, Haute Vosges, France', chiaroscuro wood engraving, 1971, edition 140. Signed, dated, titled and numbered '15/140' in pencil. Signed in the block, lower right....Category
1970s American Modern Figurative Prints
MaterialsWoodcut
- 'Rain at Shinagawa, Ryoshimachi' — lifetime impressionBy Kawase HasuiLocated in Myrtle Beach, SCA fine, atmospheric impression, with fresh colors; the full sheet, in excellent condition. Signed 'Hasui' with the artist’s seal 'Kawase', lower left. Published by Watanabe Shozaburo...Category
1930s Showa Figurative Prints
MaterialsWoodcut
- 'Court' — 1930s Social Conscience, WPA Woman ArtistLocated in Myrtle Beach, SCClaire Mahl Moore, 'Court' also 'The Authorities', woodcut, 1936, edition 5. Signed 'Mahl' and titled in pencil. A fine, richly-inked impression, on ...Category
1930s Expressionist Figurative Prints
MaterialsWoodcut
- Samurai Walking in Snow — Forty-seven Ronin Memorial Series, 1920Located in Myrtle Beach, SCArai Kanpo, 'Samurai Walking in the Snow' from 'Gishi Taikan' (Pictures of Loyal Followers), Forty-Seven Ronin Memorial Series, color woodblock print, 1920. Signed Kanpo with the art...Category
1920s Showa Figurative Prints
MaterialsWoodcut
You May Also Like
- Beauty on a Veranda with Fan and MirrorBy Suzuki (Hozumi) HarunobuLocated in Fairlawn, OHSigned: Harunobu ga Series: Series: Eight Fashionable Parlor Views (Furyu zashiki hakkei)? Format Japanese: chuban Provenance: Private Collection, Philadelphia Collection of McCleaf ...Category
Mid-18th Century Edo Prints and Multiples
MaterialsWoodcut
- Seishi Ai-oi Genji – Set of 12 Shunga works together w/astrological commentaryBy Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III)Located in Middletown, NYSet of 12 woodblock prints in colors on handmade, laid mulberry paper, 6 3/4 x 10 1/4 inches (170 x 258 mm), printed in Ka-ei 4 (1851). Each print with minor handling wear, otherwise in excellent condition with bright and fresh color, and with details printed in silver ink. The images themselves contain several illusive characters indicating the publisher which are obfuscated by figures, as intended. Presented loose, as issued. A fine set. The astrological commentary print has a large and meandering blind stamp with a bird and palm frond motif. This print lists various phrases concerning the Twelve Zodiac Animals as historically counted in Japan, and appears to include erotic commentary on the traits of people born under each of the twelve signs. These Shunga images were issued in books that paralleled (in an erotic fashion...Category
Mid-19th Century Edo Nude Prints
MaterialsInk, Handmade Paper, Woodcut
- Drying PaperLocated in Middletown, NYWoodcut on cream laid paper, 7 1/4 x 2 1/2 inches (182 x 63 mm), narrow margins. Laid down to non-archival board with scattered soiling and some adhesive staining. Okumura Masanobu (Japanese 1686 – 13 March 1764) was a Japanese print designer, book publisher, and painter. He also illustrated novelettes and in his early years wrote some fiction. At first his work adhered to the Torii school, but later drifted beyond that. He is a figure in the formative era of ukiyo-e doing early works on actors and bijin-ga ("pictures of beautiful women"). While Masanobu's early life is largely undocumented, he is believed to have been born about 1686, possibly in Edo (modern Tokyo). Edo was a small fishing village when Tokugawa Ieyasu chose it as his administrative capital of the Tokugawa shogunate, and by the early 17th century the city had prospered and its population had grown to half a million. Masanobu appears to have been self-taught painter (though he did study poetry under Tachiba Fukaku); he is not known to have belonged to any artistic school. His early work shows the influence of the Torii school of ukiyo-e painting...Category
Early 18th Century Edo Figurative Prints
MaterialsHandmade Paper, Woodcut
- Actor Iwai Shigaku as Somenoi in "Denka chaya adauchi"By KuniyoshiLocated in Middletown, NYActor Iwai Shigaku as Somenoi in "Denka chaya adauchi" (Revenge at the Denka Teahouse), by Shigeharu, Ryusai (also called Kuniyoshi) Tokyo: Horie Ichiba Wataki, 1835. Woodcut on la...Category
Early 19th Century Edo Portrait Prints
MaterialsLaid Paper, Handmade Paper, Woodcut
- "Ichimura Hazaemon as Hatsuyumeya Mitsujiro, " Color Woodcut by KunichikaBy Toyoharu KunichikaLocated in Milwaukee, WI"Ichimura Hazaemon as Hatsuyumeya Mitsujiro" is a woodcut print by Toyoharu Kunichika in red, blue, and black. 14" x 9 1/2" art 20 3/4" x 16 3/4" framed From the series “First Per...Category
1860s Edo Figurative Prints
MaterialsWoodcut
- 'Hare, from Twelve Zodiac Signs' woodblock print by Utagawa KuniyoshiBy Utagawa KuniyoshiLocated in Milwaukee, WIThis print is from a highly regarded series by the Edo woodblock artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi: in the period, there were at times prohibitions in depicting a...Category
1850s Edo Figurative Prints
MaterialsPaper, Pigment, Woodcut
Recently Viewed
View AllMore Ways To Browse
Tribe Of Levi
Guillaume Cornelis van Beverloo (Corneille) On Sale
James Abbott McNeill Whistler On Sale
Vaso Antico
Chagall Lithograph Ruth Boaz
Chagall Ruth And Boaz
Goya Lamp
La Vilaine Lulu
Marc Chagall Boaz
Al Hirschfeld Kabuki
Betty Guy Watercolor
Giuseppe Megna On Sale
Graham Fransella
Hirschfeld Kabuki
Massimo Campigli On Sale
Carlo Pignatelli
Emile Boilvin
Giorgio Morandi On Sale