Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Japanese: 歌川国芳 - うたがわ・くによし

Year of death: Bunkyu 1.3.5 (1861.4.14)
Year of birth: November 15, 1798 (January 1, 1798)
An ukiyo-e artist from the late Edo period. Born in Nihonbashi, Edo. His original surname is unknown, but he later inherited the Igusa family name. His childhood name was Yoshisaburo, and later Magosaburo. He also went by the pseudonyms Ichiyusai and Chosourou. He became a pupil of the first Utagawa Toyokuni around 1811, but suffered a long period of misfortune. Towards the end of the Bunsei era (1818-1830), he took advantage of the literary craze for Suikoden and released a nishikie series entitled "One of the 108 Heroes of the Popular Suikoden," which became a hit, and he finally joined the ranks of popular artists as "Kuniyoshi of warrior pictures." After that, he was active in a wide range of fields, including nishikie, illustrations for readings, gokan, and comedy books, and was counted as one of the three great masters of the Utagawa school, along with Kunisada and Hiroshige. Many of his representative warrior paintings are triplicate, with the subject depicted on a large scale, such as "The Attendants of Sanuki-in Rescuing Tametomo" and "The Old Imperial Palace at Soma." In addition to warrior paintings, he showed a modern sensibility in his landscape print series such as "Famous Places in the Eastern Capital" and "Pictures of XX in the Eastern Capital" from the early Tenpo period (1830-1844), and also drew attention for his playful caricatures such as "All About Goldfish" from the later period and "Mudasho on the Wall of the Treasure House" from the late Koka period (1844-1848). He also devoted himself to training his pupils, and among them came such talented artists as Yoshitora, Yoshiiku, and Yoshitoshi. In the art world, he showed a strong ability to absorb things, such as learning the style of copperplate printing, and was also full of a spirit of service that surprised and delighted viewers. As a person, he was a chivalrous, bossy type, and sometimes had a rebellious spirit that lampooned the shogunate, but on the other hand, he was a man of great human charm, such as his great love of cats. <References> Suzuki Juzo, "Kuniyoshi"

(Junichi Ohkubo)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：文久1.3.5(1861.4.14)
生年：寛政9.11.15(1798.1.1)
江戸末期の浮世絵師。江戸日本橋生まれ。はじめの姓は不明だが,のちに井草氏を継ぐ。幼名芳三郎,のちに孫三郎。一勇斎,朝桜楼などと号した。文化8(1811)年ごろに初代歌川豊国に入門したが,不遇の時期が長く続いた。文政(1818～30)末ごろ文芸界の『水滸伝』ブームに乗じて発表した「通俗水滸伝豪傑百八人之一個」の錦絵シリーズが当たりを取り,「武者絵の国芳」としてようやく人気絵師の仲間入りを果たした。以後,錦絵,読本・合巻・滑稽本の挿絵と幅広く活躍し,国貞,広重と共に歌川派の三巨匠のひとりに数えられた。武者絵の代表作は3枚続きの画面に対象を巨大に描いたものに多く,「讃岐院眷属をして為朝をすくふ図」「相馬の古内裏」などがあげられる。武者絵以外では,天保(1830～44)前期に「東都名所」「東都○○之図」などの風景版画シリーズで近代的な感覚を見せ,同後期の「金魚づくし」,弘化(1844～48)末ごろの「荷宝蔵壁のむだ書」などの遊び心に満ちた戯画も注目される。門人の育成にも尽力し,門下から芳虎,芳幾,芳年らの俊才が輩出した。画業においては銅版画の作風を学ぶなど旺盛な吸収力を見せ,観る者を驚かせ喜ばせるサービス精神にも富んでいる。人間的には侠気のある親分肌で,ときに幕政を風刺する反骨精神もあったが,一方では猫をこよなく愛するなど,人間的な魅力に富んだ人物であった。<参考文献>鈴木重三『国芳』

(大久保純一)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

<<: Genshin Udagawa

>>: Utagawa Kunisada - Utagawa Kunisada