Utagawa Kunisada - Utagawa Kunisada

An ukiyo-e artist from the late Edo period. A pupil of the first Utagawa Toyokuni, his name was Sumida and was popularly known as Shozo. In 1845 (Koka 2), he shaved his head and changed his name to Shozo. His talent as an artist was recognised at an early age and he became a pupil of Toyokuni. He is thought to have started exhibiting his work around 1802 (Kyowa 2) or 1807 (Bunka 4). In his early days, he used the artist names Ichiyuusai and Gototei, and later went on to use several other names, including Kochoro, Fubosanjin, Fucho, Gepparo, Kitabaido, Tojuen, Kinraisha, and Kiou (which he started using at the age of 77). In 1844, he took on the name Toyokuni II, but his first name, Utagawa Toyoshige (1802-?), had officially taken on the name, and it is said that his aggressive approach earned him a bad reputation at the time. For these reasons, for the sake of convenience, Kunisada's Toyokuni is now counted as the third. He died on December 15, 1281, at the age of 79.

His range of work was extremely wide and varied from the time of Kunisada to his later years, but his finest works can be seen in the early period when he was under the name of Godotei, and there are many excellent triptychs and large-headed portraits of beautiful women. Under the name of Kochoro Kunisada, he is known for his illustrations in Ryutei Tanehiko's collection of comical volumes, Nise Murasaki Inaka Genji (1829-1842). After that, when he began to call himself Toyokuni, he fell into a state of promiscuity, but his large-headed portraits of actors are somewhat noteworthy. However, he formed the greatest influence in the ukiyo-e world at the end of the Edo period, and it is said that he produced the greatest number of works in his lifetime of all ukiyo-e artists, so his achievements are by no means small.

[Nagata Seiji]

"Suzuki Juzo (ed.) Ukiyo-e Taikei 10 Kunisada/Kuniyoshi/Eisen" (1976, Shueisha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸後期の浮世絵師。初世歌川豊国(とよくに)の門人で、角田(すみだ)氏、俗称を庄蔵(しょうぞう)といい、1845年（弘化2）剃髪(ていはつ)して肖造と改めた。幼くして画才を認められて豊国の門に入り、1802年（享和2）あるいは1807年（文化4）ごろから作品を発表し始めたとみられている。画号は、その初期に一雄斎(いちゆうさい)、五渡亭(ごとてい)を用い、のちに香蝶楼(こうちょうろう)、富望山人(ふぼうさんじん)、富眺(ふちょう)、月波楼(げっぱろう)、北梅戸(ほくばいど)、桃樹園(とうじゅえん)、琴雷舎(きんらいしゃ)、喜翁(きおう)（77歳から使用）など、ほかに数号がある。1844年2世豊国を称するが、正式には初名歌川豊重(とよしげ)（1802―？）が2世を襲名しており、その強引さから当時相当の悪評がたったといわれる。以上の理由から現在では便宜上、国貞の豊国を3世と数えている。元治(げんじ)元年12月15日、79歳で没。

　その作域は国貞時代より晩年まで実に幅広く、多岐にわたっているが、五渡亭を号した初期にもっとも佳作がみられ、三枚続や大首絵(おおくびえ)風の美人画に優品が多い。香蝶楼国貞の名義では柳亭種彦の合巻『偐紫田舎源氏(にせむらさきいなかげんじ)』（1829～1842）の挿絵が知られる。以降、豊国を称してからは乱作に陥るものの、役者の大首絵などには多少みるべきものがある。しかし、幕末の浮世絵界では最大の勢力を形成し、生涯に描いた作品数も全浮世絵師中、最大数量であったといわれ、その功績もけっして小さくはない。

［永田生慈］

『鈴木重三編『浮世絵大系10　国貞／国芳／英泉』（1976・集英社）』

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