Kinga BAITEI, UTAGAWA KUNIYOSHI
Héros légendaires de la Chine et du Japon. Wakan Eiyu Gaden
Gyokusandô|Edo [Tokyo] 1860|15.50 x 23 cm|2 volumes cousus
The rare first edition, complete in 2 volumes. The first volume contains a colored frontispiece and 13 double-page plates. The second volume has 12 double-page plates and a black frontispiece. All plates are in black and grey wash. The volumes are undated but note a location: Nihonbashi dori, the bridge avenue in Edo. They bear the name of Ichiyusai, one of Kuniyoshi's first artistic names. The date is therefore indicative and has been determined according to various criteria; however, according to the preface, the books were in production at the time of Kuniyoshi's death and the frontispiece of the second volume is the work of Utagawa Sadahide. One of the master's last works in which he rediscovers the elements that ensured his renown.
Volumes in accordion format, bound by stitching. Title label. Green covers. The second volume with a lower cover speckled with whitish stains, a few on the upper cover of volume 1. In volume 2, 3 leaves with a folded corner. Good interior condition.
Kuniyoshi was one of the last great masters of traditional Japanese printmaking and one of the great painters of Japan alongside Hokusai and Hiroshige, where he is justly celebrated. In 1811 he was admitted to Toyokuni's workshop, becoming one of his principal pupils. He thus inscribed himself in the tradition of the Utagawa School. Kuniyoshi remains primarily the draughtsman of legendary characters, heroes and often strange or even fantastical scenes. Kuniyoshi's talent and personality forged a work of great quality, clearly distinct from those of his predecessors and contemporaries. Like Hokusai, he remained throughout his life an artist in search of new themes. He was a creator, seeking innovation useful to the progress of his art and its understanding. The artist benefited from a major retrospective at the Grand Palais in Paris in 2015.
The innovative aspect of these prints consists in a marked accentuation of fantastical elements, in a dark atmosphere with spectral apparitions, and in the depiction of tattoos, which would launch a veritable trend at the time.
Volumes in accordion format, bound by stitching. Title label. Green covers. The second volume with a lower cover speckled with whitish stains, a few on the upper cover of volume 1. In volume 2, 3 leaves with a folded corner. Good interior condition.
Kuniyoshi was one of the last great masters of traditional Japanese printmaking and one of the great painters of Japan alongside Hokusai and Hiroshige, where he is justly celebrated. In 1811 he was admitted to Toyokuni's workshop, becoming one of his principal pupils. He thus inscribed himself in the tradition of the Utagawa School. Kuniyoshi remains primarily the draughtsman of legendary characters, heroes and often strange or even fantastical scenes. Kuniyoshi's talent and personality forged a work of great quality, clearly distinct from those of his predecessors and contemporaries. Like Hokusai, he remained throughout his life an artist in search of new themes. He was a creator, seeking innovation useful to the progress of his art and its understanding. The artist benefited from a major retrospective at the Grand Palais in Paris in 2015.
The innovative aspect of these prints consists in a marked accentuation of fantastical elements, in a dark atmosphere with spectral apparitions, and in the depiction of tattoos, which would launch a veritable trend at the time.
€1,500