|
Utagawa Toyokuni (Japanese: 歌川豐國) (1769
-
1825) (also often referred to as Toyokuni I, to
distinguish him from the
members of his school who took over his go (art-name)
after he died) was a great master of the
Japanese
woodblock print, known in particular for his
Kabuki actor prints. He was one of the heads of the renowned
Utagawa school of Japanese woodblock artists, and was the person who
really moved it to the position of great fame and power it occupied for
the rest of the
19th century.
Biography
He was born in Edo, the son of Kurohashi Gorobei, a carver of dolls and
puppets, including replicas of Kabuki actors. Toyokuni was apprenticed to
the first head of the Utagawa house, Utagawa
Toyoharu, whom his father knew well and who lived nearby, at about the
age of 14. One of his fellow pupils under Toyoharu was
Toyohiro, whose pupil was the great landscape artist
Hiroshige. In recognition of his artistic ability, Toyokuni took the
name Utagawa Toyokuni, in the common practise of using one syllable of his
master's name, shortly thereafter.
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, and through a great deal of hard work produced first a
mastery, and then a synthesis of their styles, and created a style of his
own.
He was known mostly for his prints related to the Kabuki theatre, in
particular his actor portaits, a field which he took to new heights,
although he also produced
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 Tokokuni's prints far more popular
among the crowd of theatre-goers than Sharaku's, although history has come
to judge Sharaku the keener observer, and greater artist.
This popularity 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, although occasional prints from
this period show his old brilliance.
He died in Edo, surrounded by many of his pupils, in
1869, at the age of 57.
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 go, or, like
Yoshtoshi, was a student of one who did.
His go, "Toyokuni" was initially used after his death by his
son-in-law,
Toyoshige, who is therefore known to use 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 him 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!"
However, 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)
|
