Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • Visit
  • Exhibitions & Events
  • Art & Design
  • Watch / Listen / Read
  • Search

Visit Main Menu Block

  • Hours & Admission
  • Accessibility & Amenities
  • Tours & Group Visits
  • Visitor Guidelines

Exhibitions and Events Main Menu Block

  • Exhibitions
  • Events

Art and Design Main Menu Block

  • Collection
  • Collection Research
  • Past Exhibitions

Footer Main

  • Become a Member
  • Give
  • Who We Are
  • Opportunities
  • Rent the Museum

Utagawa Kuniyoshi

December 10, 1997 - March 8, 1998

Introduction

The works of the nineteenth-century printmaker Kuniyoshi and his contemporaries have been described as "decadent" in the traditional history of Japanese printmaking. One glance at the prints exhibited here shows how impressive they are in reality. Kuniyoshi's brilliant colors and bold compositions complement his subjects, which are often drawn from historical narrative or legendary and supernatural tales. His powerful compositions, frequently executed in the form of triptychs, are conceived on a scale unknown before the nineteenth century.

This small exhibition commemorates the two hundredth anniversary of Kuniyoshi's birth on January 1, 1798. The works selected, most of which date to the 1840s and 1850s, convey the richness of the artist's creative imagination and his broad-ranging interests. In addition to his narrative illustrations of historical and legendary subjects, the exhibition includes a Buddhist triptypch, prints of courtesans and genre scenes, bird-and-flower prints, and a sketchbook of preparatory drawings for print compositions.

Kuniyoshi 's prolific output shows how widely his prints were appreciated during his own lifetime. Their vitality, brilliant surfaces, and forcefully expressive designs may still be savored by the contemporary viewer, whose enjoyment begins with an understanding of these qualities of Kuniyoshi 's art.

Selected Objects

Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川国芳

Takiyasha Summons a Skeleton to confront Mitsukuni in the Sōma Castle, Edo (Japanese period)
No Image Available

Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川国芳

Parody of the Sixteen Disciples of Buddha (Mitate Juroku rakan), Edo (Japanese period)
No Image Available

Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川国芳

Tadatsune and the goddess of Mount Fuji (Kennin sannen Minamoto no Yoriie-kyo Fuji no mikari), Edo (Japanese period)
No Image Available

Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川国芳

The last stand of the Kusunoki at Shijonawate (Nanke yushi shijonawate nite uchijini), Edo (Japanese period)

Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川国芳

Colorful Peonies and Lion Dogs (深見草獅子彩色 Fukamigusa shishi no irodori), Edo (Japanese period)
No Image Available

Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川国芳

Apparition of the large skeleton summoned by Takiyasha daughter of Taira no Masakado in his haunted Soma Castle in front of Otake Taro Mitsukuni and his retainer, Edo (Japanese period)
No Image Available

Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川国芳

Plum trees at night, Edo (Japanese period)
No Image Available

Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川国芳

Apparition of the large skeleton summoned by Takiyasha daughter of Taira no Masakado in his haunted Soma Castle in front of Otake Taro Mitsukuni and his retainer, Edo (Japanese period)
  • More objects +
Download

/

RISD Museum

  •  Facebook
  •  Twitter
  •  Instagram
  •  Vimeo
  •  Pinterest
  •  SoundCloud

Footer Main

  • Become a Member
  • Give
  • Who We Are
  • Opportunities
  • Rent the Museum

Footer Secondary

  • Image Request
  • Press Office
  • Rent the Museum
  • Terms of Use