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Utagawa Kunisada II

Utagawa Kunisada II 二代歌川国貞 (1823–80)

Enoshima Station. Enoshima 江ノ島
  • 1863
  • Series: “Scenes of Famous Places Along the Tôkaidô Road” also known as the “Processional Tôkaidô”
  • Tôkaidô meisho fûkei 東海道名所風景; Gojôraku Tôkaidô 御上洛東海道
  • Signature: Kunisada ga 国貞画国貞画 – answering a request from Hiroshige (II) 応需広重
  • Marks: no
  • Publisher: Kobayashi Tetsujirô 小林鉄次郎 (Maruya Tetsujirô; 1848–93)
  • Format: vertical large print (ôban tate-e)
  • Medium: multicolor woodblock prints (nishiki-e) bound as book; ink and colors on paper

The print Enoshima Station contains a view within a view: at Enoshima, an islet in the Bay of Sagami, Kunisada II observes a daimyô (feudal lord) with his retinue. They watch a woman and her child dive for abalone shells. A Shinto shrine can be glimpsed deep within a cave.

Kunisada II was a disciple of the highly influential Utagawa School, and as such, took the name of his teacher, Kunisada I. He later adopted the name of Toyokuni, the school’s founder, and thus became Toyokuni III (or Toyokuni IV in another reckoning). He often found his motifs in pleasure quarters and tea-houses. After Japanese printmaking was introduced in Europe in the late 1860s, his works caught the attention of a Western public.

The landscape background was made by Hiroshige II.

Published Jan. 22, 2021 12:03 PM - Last modified Nov. 25, 2021 1:42 PM

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