Antique Japanese Woodblock Print/Diptych by Kunisada Seven Autumn Flowers c.1850Presented is a pair of beautiful Japanese full oban-size woodblock prints created by the renowned artist of the late Edo period Utagawa Kunisada (1786 - 1864), also known as Kunisada I and Toyokuni III. He was one of the most prominent artists and printmakers during the late Edo era (1600-1864) and the most productive of all ukiyo-e artists - he have created about 20 000 images each of them printed in several hundreds of prints.Kunisada I Utagawa was a prolific woodblock print artist mostly known for his pictures of beautiful women (bijinga) and kabuki actors prints (yakusha-e). Born in Edo (today’s Tokyo), he became a pupil of Toyokuni I Utagawa (1769-1825) at the age of 15 and would later adopt his name in the traditional Japanese manner, becoming Toyokuni III and continuing the development of the Utagawa art school.Kunisada’s pictures reflect the culture of Japan in the years leading up to the country’s opening to the West. His first book illustrations were published in 1807 and his first actor portrait the following year. Alongside theatrical scenes and courtesans, yakusha-e was his preferred genre amidst all his popular and extensive output. As he painted a large number of these, continuing the stout realism of his teacher, he acquired the nickname ‘Yakusha-e no Kunisada’ – Kunisada, the actor painter. In his numerous bijinga he clung to the ideal of beauty prevalent at the time. Most of the women portrayed were courtesans from Yoshiwara, the regulated red-light district of the city.Many museums in the world have Kunisada works:British Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY
Museum of Fine Arts in Boston
Tokyo National Museum
Museum of Fine Arts in Houston
Honolulu Museum of Art
and many othersThe two prints presented are two out of three parts of a triptych called "Enjoying the Garden with the Seven Flowering Plants of Autumn (Niwa asobi kusabana no nanamoji)". They show the inside of the house with a man of the house sitting by a traditional Japanese musical instrument called koto. The room is open to the garden with different flowers blooming on a warm August day. The ladies of the house are enjoing the aroma and a fresh breeze from the garden.This is a beatiful sneek view into the everyday life of Japanese middle class in the last years before the Meiji Restorations.The print was made using the Japanese woodblock technique.AUTHOR: Utagawa Kunisada I (Toyokuni III)
TITLE: Enjoying the Garden with the Seven Flowering Plants of Autumn (Niwa asobi kusabana no nanamoji)
CREATED: c.1850
PAPER: washi paper
METHOD OF PRINTING: Woodblock printing
PRINTED: Lifetime printing circa 1850
OVERALL SIZE: Full oban size 14" X 19.5" two prints assembledThe condition is very good. Good detail and colors, some minor darkening of the paper. Very minor paper loss iat the edges. No backing - the paper is fragile, be very careful!
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