Kuniyoshi: Japanese master of imagined worlds

Abstract

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) is indisputably a major force in the history of Japanese woodblock prints. His career spanned almost fifty years from the 1810s to 1860 and he helped establish the warrior genre as one of the main pillars of the Ukiyo-e tradition. Kuniyoshi has created some of the most spectacular heroic triptychs which still resonate today in modern manga culture. As this publication demonstrates, his artistic genius extended to diverse genres: beauties and kabuki actors, two other established Utagawa school subjects; ghosts and demons; and images of humour, often involving witty wordplay. This publication is based on the M. Takashima collection, the most extensive private collection on Kuniyoshi in the world. Thus some of the imagery shown here is published for the first time outside Japan.