Utagawa Kunisada

Utagawa Kunisada was the most popular and prolific ukiyo-e woodblock print designer in 19th-century Japan, creating over 20,000 designs.

ABOUT

Born Sumida Shōgorō IX in 1786 in Honjo, an eastern district of Edo (modern-day Tokyo), Utagawa Kunisada came from a family with a small ferry-boat business, which provided him with financial stability and the freedom to pursue his artistic talents. His father, an amateur poet, passed away shortly after Kunisada's birth. Showing an early aptitude for drawing, Kunisada's sketches caught the eye of Toyokuni I, the esteemed master of the Utagawa school, known for his kabuki and…

Read Utagawa's full story in Art Whisper

NOTABLE WORKS

Seated Woman Washing Clothes in a Wooden Tub 1786 · Cleveland Museum of Art Woman with a Fan in her Left Hand Combing her Hair 1786 · Cleveland Museum of Art Woman Bucking Autumn Wind 1786 · Cleveland Museum of Art Portrait 1786 · Cleveland Museum of Art Woman Diver Combing her Hair 1786 · Cleveland Museum of Art The Courtesan Shiratama of the Tamaya 1810 · Cleveland Museum of Art

See all of Utagawa's works in Art Whisper

INFLUENCES

Influenced by

Utagawa Toyokuni IUkiyo-e, Utagawa School