UTAGAWA KUNISADA TOYOKUNI III
Female figure with large carp in black and beige background.
Date: Edo,1840 about
Cod 9764
Subject: Giappone
380,00 €
Wood engraving on fine virgin washi paper mm 360x245. Early 19th century. Soft colors beige, black, and pink. Female figure with large carp in black and beige background, lettering on left side and top, censor's stamp at bottom. The subject, a possible courtesan, on her knees caught in the moment before bathing, wearing a somewhat loose kimono with voluptuous draperies with fine floral motifs, which fall over the well-patterned body modeling, with her hands adjusting the decorations of her hairstyle and holding a small towel between her lips. The symbol of the carp in Japan rises to the significance of social ascendancy, and life success, for any individual in bravely facing all adversities, as the fish's doggedness in swimming upstream in rivers is a symbol of endurance and strength; traditional Japanese society is known to be more inclined to see the carp personified to the woman as a "good wife and wise mother" i.e., ryōsai kenbo. During the Edo period buying a print depicting a carp going upstream had a strong talismanic value. In Chinese tradition, moreover, the carp are transformed at the end of their upstream journey into dragons, lords of the waters and skies.The female figure played a central role in the range of major subjects of ukiyo-e prints, the painting and depiction of the floating world, of life passing by, which predates photography. Bijin-ga (Japanese: 美人画, "paintings of beautiful women," bijin) is a generic term for images of beautiful women in Japanese art, especially in woodcuts of the ukiyo-e genre, which predates photography.Utagawa Kunisada was born in Edo in 1786. Showing a strong liking for art (he copied drawings of kabuki actors), he was accepted around 1800 as an apprentice to one of the greatest masters of woodcut drawing, Toyokuni, receiving the name "gō" at the time. He began by making prints of actors, a specialty of the Utagawa school, which was soon abandoned for bijin-ga. He also painted landscapes and warriors, but although his beginnings in this field were promising, he never made many of them. He also made a large number of shunga (erotic prints), before the reforms of the Tenpō era in 1842.In 1844-1845, Kunisada Utagawa changed his artist name, taking that of his master, Toyokuni, and thus becoming Toyokuni III.He sometimes collaborated with Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi on series of prints made in the 1840s and 1850s, when Japan was booming and woodcuts were in high demand. At this time he was at the height of his career and dominated the market for prints of kabuki and genji actors, while also producing a large number of bijin-ga and sumo-e paintings. It is estimated that he produced over 20,000 works during his lifetime.
Excellent specimen.
Back