Kunisada Utagawa (1786-1865)

Kunisada Utagawa was born in 1786, in Edo, a city he only left once in his lifetime. He was the son of a merchant licensed to own a ferry-boat, that was also an renowned amateur poet. Since an early age Kunisada showed a penchant to drawing and painting and, when he was aged fifteen he entered as an apprentice to the studio of Toyokuni, a great master of Japanese print and the head of the Utagawa school.

There Kunisada started by actor prints, the specialty of the Utagawa school, and, later, beauty prints (bijin ga), historical prints, landscape prints (these rarely) and erotic prints (shunga). He eventually became head of the Utagawa school, at what time he changed his name to Toyokuni II. 

Kunisada was, in his time, the most famous and successful  Ukiyo-e artist. He produced an huge number of prints (estimated at over 20.000), which explains the irregularity of his work. He cooperated with Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi in several series when popularity of Ukiyo-e prints was at the top (in the 1840s and 1850s).

He died in Edo, in 1865.

©2003/8, Manuel Paias