Utagawa Toyokuni

Biography

Toyokuni was born in 1769, the son of Kurahashi Gorobei, a carver of dolls and puppets, including replicas of kabuki actors. At around 14, Toyokuni was apprenticed to the first head of the Utagawa house, Utagawa Toyoharu, whom his father knew well and who lived nearby. One of his fellow pupils under Toyoharu was Toyohiro, whose pupil was the great landscape artist Hiroshige. In recognition of his artistic ability, Toyokuni later took the name Utagawa Toyokuni, following the common practice of using one syllable of his master's name.

Toyokuni seems not to have been an "intuitive genius" determined to forge a new path; rather, he seems to have studied intently those who came before him, particularly Utamaro, Chōbunsai Eishi and Eishōsai Chōki. and through a great deal of hard work produced first a mastery, and then a synthesis of their styles, to create a style of his own.

He was known mostly for his prints related to the kabuki theatre, in particular his yakusha-e actor portraits, a field which he took to new heights. He also, however, produced other genres such as musha-e warrior prints, shunga erotica, and most notably bijin-ga.

In his actor prints, like Sharaku, one sees the real subject; but his prints merely portrayed what he saw, unlike Sharaku who exaggerated those aspects he saw as the most key. It is said of Toyokuni's prints that they recreate exactly what one would see on stage; they show actors acting, not merely just pictures of actors. Together, these characteristics made Toyokuni's prints far more popular among theatre-goers than Sharaku's, although history has come to judge Sharaku the keener observer and greater artist.

His popularity and prolific output may in part have been his undoing, though. From 1803 through 1817, his work became more static, even as it became more popular. He continued to produce large quantities of prints, but the quality as a rule did not match that of his earlier days. Occasional prints from this period, however, show his old brilliance.

He died in Edo in 1825, surrounded by many of his pupils.

Names

Like most Edo period Japanese artists, Toyokuni was known by several names throughout his lifetime, some sequentially and some concurrently.

• Family name (姓 - sei): Kurahashi (倉橋)
• Childhood name (幼名 - yōmyō): Kumakichi (熊吉)
• Nickname (通称 - tsūshō): Kumaemon (熊右衛門)
• Art names (号 - gō): Utagawa Toyokuni (歌川豊国), Utagawa Ichiyōsai (歌川 一陽斎), Ichiyōsai Toyokuni (一陽斎 豊国)
• Posthumous Buddhist name (戒名 - kaimyō / 法名 - hōmyō): Tokumyōin Jissaireigō Shinji

In addition, the name 'Toyokuni' has been transcribed through several kanji character combinations, both by the artist himself and by those writing about him.

• Characters used to write Toyokuni: 豊国, 豊國, 豊圀, 豐國, 豐圀 Today, Toyokuni is almost universally written using the characters 豊国. Each of the other kanji are no longer in common usage.

Pupils

Toyokuni's two major pupils were the woodblock print masters Kunisada and Kuniyoshi, but he had a host of students in his school. Indeed, so powerful was the Utagawa school after Toyokuni's time that almost every Japanese print artist of note either had one of these two characters in his gō, or, like Yoshitoshi, was a student of one who did.

His gō, "Toyokuni", was initially used after his death by his son-in-law, Toyoshige, who is therefore known to us as Toyokuni II. Thereafter, it was handed down and used by each head of the Utagawa school in turn. Kunisada is thus also known as Toyokuni III.

Retrospective observations

Evaluations of Toyokuni as an artist are somewhat mixed. Indeed, he himself is reported to have once said:

: "My pictures – they are merely something that I draw, and nothing more than that!"

The main criticisms of his works relate to his "predominantly imitative" style, and to the "marked decline" in the quality of works from later in his career. However, Toyokuni's style is admired for characteristics such as "decorative bombast", and "bold, taut designs". He is also credited with such innovations as diptych, triptych and polyptych formats, and with training future masters of ukiyo-e. His work captured the world around him, particularly the kabuki theatre, with great clarity, and his style was a step forward. In addition, it was commercially successful, and thus freed woodblock prints from many of the restrictive canons which had limited previous generations of artists.

Print series

Here is a very incomplete list of his print series, with dates:

• Views of Actors on Stage (ca. 1793)
• Sketches of Seven Elegant Paragons of Beauty (ca. 1800)
• Views of Elegant Geisha in Characteristic Poses (ca. 1801)
• Tomimoto the Geisha (ca. 1830-1844)

Collections and museums

• Udinotti Museum of Figurative Art

Gallery

File:Utagawa Toyokuni I - The poetess Ono-no Komachi in the rain - Google Art Project.jpg|The poet Ono-no Komachi in the rain File:UtagawaToyokuniLoveSuicideKabukiWoodcutCA1800.jpg|Kabuki actors, ca. 1800 File:Kinokuniya.jpg|Kinokuniya Sawamura Sojuro III as Ogishi Kurando, 1794

Notes

References

References

1. [[Sanseidō]]. (10 March 2025)
2. Percival 1978, 30
3. Chiappa 2013
4. Percival 1978, 30
5. Chiappa 2012
6. Percival 1978, 30
7. Newland 2005, 502
8. Marks 2010, 96
9. Tazawa 1981, 346
10. Tazawa 1981, 346
11. Chiappa 2013
12. According to Marks, by the time of his death at age 57, Toyokuni had produced more than 90 print series, over 400 illustrated books, and several hundred single sheet prints. (2010, 96)
13. Waterhouse 1975, 200
14. Waterhouse 1975, 200
15. Tazawa 1981, 347
16. Tazawa 1981, 347
17. Tazawa 1981, 347
18. ULAN 2004
19. Marks 2010, 96
20. ULAN 2004
21. Chiappa 2013
22. From his accession to the name Toyokuni in 1844, Kunisada consistently signed his works Toyokuni II, refusing to accept the legitimacy of his predecessor, Toyokuni II. He is, however, always referred to as Toyokuni III (Marks 2010, 120).
23. Newland 2005, 502
24. Lane 1978, 151
25. Waterhouse 1975, 200
26. Lane 1978, 152
27. Newland 2005, 502
28. Percival 1978, 32
29. Tazawa 1981, 346