Kuniyoshi | Five Stations: Oiso, Odawara, Hakone, Mishima, and Numazu, 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 大磯、小田原、箱根、三島、沼津
Five Stations: Oiso, Odawara, Hakone, Mishima, and Numazu, 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；颜色保存非常好；左边边缘的册页装帧小洞经修复
Fine impression and colour; few holes from the early album on the left side have been restored, otherwise in good condition
$4,800
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.
In this view, we see five stations: Oiso, Odawara, Hakone, Mishima, and Numazu. These are among the first. We’ve just left Edo and the mountains loom dark and foreboding in the distance, as they still do today. In the foreground, a group of pilgrims marvel at an attraction known as “Tiger Cub Rock.” We see Odawara castle’s keep rising above the mist in 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。
大矶、小田原、箱根、三岛与沼津依次是东海道五十三次中的第八到第十二处宿场。其中前三处宿场原位置位于今神奈川县境内，后两处宿场则位于今静冈县境内。在本作中，远方，五色群山巍峨连绵，山腰间丝带状的云霭弥散，掩映着右侧山脚下的小田原城。过渡至前景内，几名持杖的朝圣者与头戴天盖的虚无僧围绕在一块磨盘大小的岩石旁，指指点点，似乎在议论着关于它的种种传说。根据画中的名牌可知，此石名唤“虎子石”，相传得名自著名复仇故事主人公——曾我兄弟中的曾我祐成之妾游女虎御前，且据说只有长相俊美的男子才能将其抬起。从这一点来看，画中的各位仁兄大概都可以省省力气了。
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 大磯、小田原、箱根、三島、沼津
Five Stations: Oiso, Odawara, Hakone, Mishima, and Numazu, 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；颜色保存非常好；左边边缘的册页装帧小洞经修复
Fine impression and colour; few holes from the early album on the left side have been restored, otherwise in good condition
$4,800
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.
In this view, we see five stations: Oiso, Odawara, Hakone, Mishima, and Numazu. These are among the first. We’ve just left Edo and the mountains loom dark and foreboding in the distance, as they still do today. In the foreground, a group of pilgrims marvel at an attraction known as “Tiger Cub Rock.” We see Odawara castle’s keep rising above the mist in 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。
大矶、小田原、箱根、三岛与沼津依次是东海道五十三次中的第八到第十二处宿场。其中前三处宿场原位置位于今神奈川县境内，后两处宿场则位于今静冈县境内。在本作中，远方，五色群山巍峨连绵，山腰间丝带状的云霭弥散，掩映着右侧山脚下的小田原城。过渡至前景内，几名持杖的朝圣者与头戴天盖的虚无僧围绕在一块磨盘大小的岩石旁，指指点点，似乎在议论着关于它的种种传说。根据画中的名牌可知，此石名唤“虎子石”，相传得名自著名复仇故事主人公——曾我兄弟中的曾我祐成之妾游女虎御前，且据说只有长相俊美的男子才能将其抬起。从这一点来看，画中的各位仁兄大概都可以省省力气了。
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 大磯、小田原、箱根、三島、沼津
Five Stations: Oiso, Odawara, Hakone, Mishima, and Numazu, 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；颜色保存非常好；左边边缘的册页装帧小洞经修复
Fine impression and colour; few holes from the early album on the left side have been restored, otherwise in good condition
$4,800
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.
In this view, we see five stations: Oiso, Odawara, Hakone, Mishima, and Numazu. These are among the first. We’ve just left Edo and the mountains loom dark and foreboding in the distance, as they still do today. In the foreground, a group of pilgrims marvel at an attraction known as “Tiger Cub Rock.” We see Odawara castle’s keep rising above the mist in 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。
大矶、小田原、箱根、三岛与沼津依次是东海道五十三次中的第八到第十二处宿场。其中前三处宿场原位置位于今神奈川县境内，后两处宿场则位于今静冈县境内。在本作中，远方，五色群山巍峨连绵，山腰间丝带状的云霭弥散，掩映着右侧山脚下的小田原城。过渡至前景内，几名持杖的朝圣者与头戴天盖的虚无僧围绕在一块磨盘大小的岩石旁，指指点点，似乎在议论着关于它的种种传说。根据画中的名牌可知，此石名唤“虎子石”，相传得名自著名复仇故事主人公——曾我兄弟中的曾我祐成之妾游女虎御前，且据说只有长相俊美的男子才能将其抬起。从这一点来看，画中的各位仁兄大概都可以省省力气了。
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)