Utagawa Yoshitora
Utagawa Yoshitora (Japanese歌 川 芳 虎, active 1836-1882 ) was a master of Japanese prints, woodblock prints and painting in the style of ukiyo -e, who lived in Edo and worked.
Life and work
About his life almost nothing is known. He was born as Nagashima Tatsugoro (永岛 辰 五郎, also辰 之 助or辰 三郎). Narrated is that he is a total moved in the years 1876-1880 four times within Edo. In 1849 he was sentenced to 50 days house arrest ( oshikome ) in hand cuffs. Reason for the punishment was the design for a color woodcut on which Oda Nobunaga, Akechi Mitsuhide, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu were represented in satirical form and violated the censorship provisions of the Bakufu. After working in the Meiji era as a newspaper journalist, he illustrated at the beginning of the 1880s a few books. The last of which appeared in 1882; after that there is no further information about him.
His training as a woodcut artist, he started in the first half of the 1830s, in the studio of Utagawa Kuniyoshi. He is considered one of the most important disciple of Kuniyoshi. In 1850, and possibly as a result of punishment by the Bakufu, he was expelled by Kuniyoshi from his studio, without, however, had influence on his artistic activity. In 1853 he was included on a list of woodcut artists among the best, 1868, he was ranked on a similar list in second place behind Utagawa Sadahide.
On the he designed prints, he signed with the nickname Ichimōsai (一 猛 斎) Kinchōrō (锦 朝 楼) or mosai (孟 斎) before his stage name Sadahide. He had a few students: Toratane (虎 种) and Torashige (虎 重), both briefly worked as a woodblock artist at the beginning of the Meiji period, and Yoshie, who worked as a tattoo artist under the name Horiyoshi.
Yoshitoras first known work was the illustrations for the 1836 released, four-volume narrative of Kantei Denshōs Karasu Kanzaemon Chugi the (Eng. The story of Karasu Kanzaemons loyalty ), which he designed together with Utagawa Yoshishige. The first he designed woodcuts appeared at the beginning of the 1840s. His focus was on the design of warrior images ( Musha -e), the famous Japanese heroes, scenes of battles and legendary events signposted. Among other things he illustrated in several series the heroes of Chūshingura. He drew designs for the prints of bijin -e, Kabuki scenes and Kabuki actor portraits. Among them, at the invitation of the publisher Ebisuya Shoshichi twelve prints Utagawa Kunisada series of anthology of past and present Kabuki actors, which represents a high point in their work and Kunisada's prints were executed in the highest typographic standards of their time. Participation in this series was thus Yoshitora for a special award. Yoshitoras activity also included the design for Shini -e ( devotional prints for deceased individuals, mostly actors ), sumo -e ( prints known sumo wrestler ), Giga -e ( prints with funny content ), some subjects prints with mythical animals and some Meisho -e ( prints of famous places, such as the series famous places in Edo, a new selection ). Among his landscape printing there is a twelve - sheet Oban (approx. 3 meters ) wide panoramic print of the Tōkaidō from 1864 ( Famous Places of the Tōkai Street).
In the early 1860s, he concentrated on prints representations of foreigners and their habits in their assigned office in Yokohama. Finally, in the 1870s, he moved to the design of Kaika -e prints, which should clear up in the Meiji period on the achievements of the West, as well as "toy - images," the Omocha -e, which as a toy and teaching material for children served.
In addition, he was involved in the course of his career at the illustration of nearly 150 books, mostly contemporary novels and short stories.
A drawn from memory picture of him can be found in Kawanabe Kyōsais 1887 entstandenem book Kyōsai Gadan (German Kyōsais talks about painting ). Kyōsai remembered in this book of his own education from 1837 to 1840 at Kuniyoshi and illustrated the teachings received with an everyday scene from Kuniyoshi's studio in which, among other things, Yoshitora can be seen as an adolescent.