Kuniyoshi | Five Stations: Akasaka, Fujikawa, Okazaki, Chiryu, and Narumi, Famous Views of the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road
歌川国芳 Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798–1861)
东海道五拾三駅五宿名所 赤坂、藤川、岡崎、池鯉鮒、鳴海
Five Stations: Akasaka, Fujikawa, Okazaki, Chiryu, and Narumi, from the series of Famous Views of the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road
1835
木版画 | 横绘大判 | 25cm x 36cm
Woodblock-print | Oban Yoko-e | 25cm x 36cm
早期版次；颜色鲜艳；品相非常好
Fine impression and colour and condition
$8,000
Hiroshige’s Hoeido Tokaido series in the early 1830s helped make the landscape genre extraordinarily popular. This was a time of peace and prosperity in Edo Japan and, while laws were restrictive, travelling became a fad, if you could find a way to do it. Pilgrimages were one solution, and the weeks-long journey along the Tokaido, the Great Sea Road, from Edo to Kyoto was the once-in-a-lifetime time dream of many.
Racing to capitalize on this, the publishers Tsuruya Kihei and Tsutaya Kichizô engaged Kuniyoshi (at this point using the first name Ichiyusai) to do his own Tokaido series. But the great artist didn’t just parrot Hiroshige, he came up with his own approach, one that is both classic and unique in the annals of Ukiyoe.
Rather than design a print for each of the 53 stops – or “stations” – on the road, he produced 12 prints that included views of several stations in each. To do this, he picked a famous view, often adding some local element in the foreground, and then marked the towns along the way with cartouches in the distance. This was unusual in one sense and traditional in another, because this format produced an effect not unlike viewing a scroll. And it certainly made it easier for his fans to collect them all. These prints are scarce, and Art of Ukiyoe is proud to offer six of them.
This example is fascinating on several levels. It shows us Akasaka, Fujikawa, Okazaki, Chiryu and Narumi stations. In the foreground we see silks drying in a light breeze. Kuniyoshi’s family were said to be silk dyers – in fact, some scholars believe his early designs were inspired by their designs. And there is a little comic relief here, as the man washing a bolt of cloth in the river bends down to give us a rather unfortunate view of his backside. This is one of the most striking prints in the series, an especially vivid example of how Kuniyoshi brought the foreground and the background into focus by almost entirely eliminating the middle ground.
Partial citation: Along the Tokaido: Twelve Views by Utagawa Kuniyoshi by Amy Poster (Brooklyn Museum; 1977)
自广重推出了著名的《东海道五十三次之内》后，从江户到京都的东海道之旅就被无数日本民众提上日程。为了抓住难得的时代红利，精明的出版商们立即聘请歌川国芳创作一套全新的东海道风景绘系列。这位已凭借水浒传系列名满天下的鬼才艺术家匠心独具，最终采取了一种在浮世绘史上独一无二的设计——他并未简单地独立画出每一个宿场，而是精心绘制了12张作品，每张都包含有一处风景名胜及沿途的数个宿场。如此超前的构图将单一的画面扩容了数倍，并为后世浮世绘画家提供了宝贵的灵感来源。直至今日，依旧给观者以独特的审美体验。
赤坂、藤川、冈崎、池鲤鲋与鸣海，依次是东海道五十三次中的第三十六到第四十处宿场，原位置皆位于今爱知县境内。在本作中，国芳以鸣海宿的海岸为大前景，展现了日本三大绞染之一的有松·鸣海绞的部分制作工序。在怀抱婴孩的年轻母亲注视下，染坊的工人们吃力地挑着一担白布向浅海走去。在浅水区，两名工人正用海水一遍遍揉搓漂洗着布料，只为能达到绞染标准，最终制成画面最右方悬于竹竿晾干的一匹匹艳丽成品。远景山峦叠错间，临近的多处宿场名以提示框的形式显现，极具3D地图之感，堪称领先时代的天才设计。
Interested in purchasing?
Please contact us.
歌川国芳 Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798–1861)
东海道五拾三駅五宿名所 赤坂、藤川、岡崎、池鯉鮒、鳴海
Five Stations: Akasaka, Fujikawa, Okazaki, Chiryu, and Narumi, from the series of Famous Views of the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road
1835
木版画 | 横绘大判 | 25cm x 36cm
Woodblock-print | Oban Yoko-e | 25cm x 36cm
早期版次；颜色鲜艳；品相非常好
Fine impression and colour and condition
$8,000
Hiroshige’s Hoeido Tokaido series in the early 1830s helped make the landscape genre extraordinarily popular. This was a time of peace and prosperity in Edo Japan and, while laws were restrictive, travelling became a fad, if you could find a way to do it. Pilgrimages were one solution, and the weeks-long journey along the Tokaido, the Great Sea Road, from Edo to Kyoto was the once-in-a-lifetime time dream of many.
Racing to capitalize on this, the publishers Tsuruya Kihei and Tsutaya Kichizô engaged Kuniyoshi (at this point using the first name Ichiyusai) to do his own Tokaido series. But the great artist didn’t just parrot Hiroshige, he came up with his own approach, one that is both classic and unique in the annals of Ukiyoe.
Rather than design a print for each of the 53 stops – or “stations” – on the road, he produced 12 prints that included views of several stations in each. To do this, he picked a famous view, often adding some local element in the foreground, and then marked the towns along the way with cartouches in the distance. This was unusual in one sense and traditional in another, because this format produced an effect not unlike viewing a scroll. And it certainly made it easier for his fans to collect them all. These prints are scarce, and Art of Ukiyoe is proud to offer six of them.
This example is fascinating on several levels. It shows us Akasaka, Fujikawa, Okazaki, Chiryu and Narumi stations. In the foreground we see silks drying in a light breeze. Kuniyoshi’s family were said to be silk dyers – in fact, some scholars believe his early designs were inspired by their designs. And there is a little comic relief here, as the man washing a bolt of cloth in the river bends down to give us a rather unfortunate view of his backside. This is one of the most striking prints in the series, an especially vivid example of how Kuniyoshi brought the foreground and the background into focus by almost entirely eliminating the middle ground.
Partial citation: Along the Tokaido: Twelve Views by Utagawa Kuniyoshi by Amy Poster (Brooklyn Museum; 1977)
自广重推出了著名的《东海道五十三次之内》后，从江户到京都的东海道之旅就被无数日本民众提上日程。为了抓住难得的时代红利，精明的出版商们立即聘请歌川国芳创作一套全新的东海道风景绘系列。这位已凭借水浒传系列名满天下的鬼才艺术家匠心独具，最终采取了一种在浮世绘史上独一无二的设计——他并未简单地独立画出每一个宿场，而是精心绘制了12张作品，每张都包含有一处风景名胜及沿途的数个宿场。如此超前的构图将单一的画面扩容了数倍，并为后世浮世绘画家提供了宝贵的灵感来源。直至今日，依旧给观者以独特的审美体验。
赤坂、藤川、冈崎、池鲤鲋与鸣海，依次是东海道五十三次中的第三十六到第四十处宿场，原位置皆位于今爱知县境内。在本作中，国芳以鸣海宿的海岸为大前景，展现了日本三大绞染之一的有松·鸣海绞的部分制作工序。在怀抱婴孩的年轻母亲注视下，染坊的工人们吃力地挑着一担白布向浅海走去。在浅水区，两名工人正用海水一遍遍揉搓漂洗着布料，只为能达到绞染标准，最终制成画面最右方悬于竹竿晾干的一匹匹艳丽成品。远景山峦叠错间，临近的多处宿场名以提示框的形式显现，极具3D地图之感，堪称领先时代的天才设计。
Interested in purchasing?
Please contact us.
歌川国芳 Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798–1861)
东海道五拾三駅五宿名所 赤坂、藤川、岡崎、池鯉鮒、鳴海
Five Stations: Akasaka, Fujikawa, Okazaki, Chiryu, and Narumi, from the series of Famous Views of the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road
1835
木版画 | 横绘大判 | 25cm x 36cm
Woodblock-print | Oban Yoko-e | 25cm x 36cm
早期版次；颜色鲜艳；品相非常好
Fine impression and colour and condition
$8,000
Hiroshige’s Hoeido Tokaido series in the early 1830s helped make the landscape genre extraordinarily popular. This was a time of peace and prosperity in Edo Japan and, while laws were restrictive, travelling became a fad, if you could find a way to do it. Pilgrimages were one solution, and the weeks-long journey along the Tokaido, the Great Sea Road, from Edo to Kyoto was the once-in-a-lifetime time dream of many.
Racing to capitalize on this, the publishers Tsuruya Kihei and Tsutaya Kichizô engaged Kuniyoshi (at this point using the first name Ichiyusai) to do his own Tokaido series. But the great artist didn’t just parrot Hiroshige, he came up with his own approach, one that is both classic and unique in the annals of Ukiyoe.
Rather than design a print for each of the 53 stops – or “stations” – on the road, he produced 12 prints that included views of several stations in each. To do this, he picked a famous view, often adding some local element in the foreground, and then marked the towns along the way with cartouches in the distance. This was unusual in one sense and traditional in another, because this format produced an effect not unlike viewing a scroll. And it certainly made it easier for his fans to collect them all. These prints are scarce, and Art of Ukiyoe is proud to offer six of them.
This example is fascinating on several levels. It shows us Akasaka, Fujikawa, Okazaki, Chiryu and Narumi stations. In the foreground we see silks drying in a light breeze. Kuniyoshi’s family were said to be silk dyers – in fact, some scholars believe his early designs were inspired by their designs. And there is a little comic relief here, as the man washing a bolt of cloth in the river bends down to give us a rather unfortunate view of his backside. This is one of the most striking prints in the series, an especially vivid example of how Kuniyoshi brought the foreground and the background into focus by almost entirely eliminating the middle ground.
Partial citation: Along the Tokaido: Twelve Views by Utagawa Kuniyoshi by Amy Poster (Brooklyn Museum; 1977)
自广重推出了著名的《东海道五十三次之内》后，从江户到京都的东海道之旅就被无数日本民众提上日程。为了抓住难得的时代红利，精明的出版商们立即聘请歌川国芳创作一套全新的东海道风景绘系列。这位已凭借水浒传系列名满天下的鬼才艺术家匠心独具，最终采取了一种在浮世绘史上独一无二的设计——他并未简单地独立画出每一个宿场，而是精心绘制了12张作品，每张都包含有一处风景名胜及沿途的数个宿场。如此超前的构图将单一的画面扩容了数倍，并为后世浮世绘画家提供了宝贵的灵感来源。直至今日，依旧给观者以独特的审美体验。
赤坂、藤川、冈崎、池鲤鲋与鸣海，依次是东海道五十三次中的第三十六到第四十处宿场，原位置皆位于今爱知县境内。在本作中，国芳以鸣海宿的海岸为大前景，展现了日本三大绞染之一的有松·鸣海绞的部分制作工序。在怀抱婴孩的年轻母亲注视下，染坊的工人们吃力地挑着一担白布向浅海走去。在浅水区，两名工人正用海水一遍遍揉搓漂洗着布料，只为能达到绞染标准，最终制成画面最右方悬于竹竿晾干的一匹匹艳丽成品。远景山峦叠错间，临近的多处宿场名以提示框的形式显现，极具3D地图之感，堪称领先时代的天才设计。
Interested in purchasing?
Please contact us.
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798–1861)
Warriors, ghosts, crabs and cats.
The woodblock print designs of Utagawa Kuniyoshi, one of Ukiyo-e’s most vibrant and creative 19th Century masters, encompass more than that – he depicted landscapes and beautiful women, too – but those are the first genres that come to mind when contemplating this wonderful and eccentric genius and his sprawling, timeless body of work.
From an early age, the young Kuniyoshi was fascinated by drama and history – with a big helping of the supernatural. He loved nature and animals, too – especially cats: again and again they pop up in designs throughout his career (adding a premium to the prices those woodblock prints fetch today). Starting out as a relatively traditional student of the Utagawa school, he soon developed his hugely energetic style, full of dynamic action, and eventually passed it on to his many students – Yoshitoshi being the most famous. Along with Kunisada and Hiroshige, he was among the most prolific of all Ukiyo-e artists.
He was born Yoshisaburō on January 1, 1798 to a silk dyer. Some say his father’s rich patterns influenced his bold, colorful designs. He always loved legends and history. By age 12 he had shown a talent for drawing and become a student of the great Toyokuni, who gave him the name Kuniyoshi. He also studied the Tosa, Kano and Maruyama painting styles.
It took awhile for him to find his place in the thriving Ukiyo-e world. Then in the 1820s he produced his first epic warrior triptychs, and his career success was assured. He often gave legendary heroes fanciful and intricate tattoos of his own design, starting a style craze in Edo.
He eventually expanded genres to include animal studies and landscapes. His wonderful oban yoko-e series of “Famous Views of the Eastern Capital” is especially interesting for its use of Western motifs, such as shadows, billowing clouds and a low vantage point to create atmospheric perspective. While these efforts weren’t always entirely successful, they still resulted in wonderfully lively Ukiyo-e designs.
In all, he produced nearly 250 series for 150 publishers.
During the Tempo reforms of the 1840s, which dramatically censured woodblock prints, he boldly skirted rules barring depictions of actors by putting their faces on various animals, such as turtles.
He died at the age of 63 in April 1861 in his home in Genyadana.
Partial citation: Marks, Andreas, Japanese Woodblock Prints, Artists, Publishers and Masterworks: 1680-1900 (Tuttle; 2010)