UTAGAWA TOYOKUNI I — EDO-PERIOD BEAUTY (BIJIN-GA)

UTAGAWA TOYOKUNI I (1769–1825) Title: Bijin awase びじんあわせ (A Contest of Beautiful Women) Signature: 豊国画 (Toyokuni ga) Date: Late Edo period, 1811–14 Seal: Hamakō 濱幸 Format: Ōban tate-e, approx. 37 × 25 cm Technique: Woodblock print (mokuhanga), polychrome (nishiki-e) Paper & condition The print is in a fair condition with moderate soiling, toning and fading. The paper is firm and subtle. Please check the images carefully! The Scene Utagawa Toyokuni I was the son of Kurahashi Gorobei, a woodcarver of dolls in the Shiba Shinmei district of Edo. As a child he trained under Utagawa Toyoharu, the founder of the Utagawa school. His series Yakusha butai no sugata-e (Portraits of Actors on Stage), published from 1794 by Izumiya Ichibei, made his name. He went on to become the leading designer of actor prints and beauties of his generation. His pupils included Kunisada and Kuniyoshi, and under him the Utagawa school became the largest and most influential school of ukiyo-e in the 19th century. This sheet is a bijin-ga, a print of a beautiful woman, one of the two main genres of Toyokuni's work alongside actor prints. The round kiwame ("approved") seal is a censorship mark used on Edo prints between 1790 and the early 1840s. It confirms that this is a period impression from the late Edo period, not a later reproduction.

Estimación:€150

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