| Title: |
Saito Izu no kami Toshimitsu, a samurai in battle with a warrior (Heroes from the chronicles of the Taiheiki) |
| Artist: |
Yoshiiku, Utagawa 'Ochiai Yoshiiku' (Japan, 1833- 1904) |
| Date: |
1867 |
| Medium: |
Original Japanese Woodcut |
| Publisher: |
Hirookaya Kosuke (Hirokaya Kosuke) |
| Signed: |
Ikkeisai Yoshiiku hitsu |
| Series: |
Taiheiki Eiyuden (Heroes from the chronicles of the Taiheiki Eiyuden) |
| Note: |
Utagawa Yoshiiku (Ochiai Yoshiiku): A fine 19th century Japanese artist of the Utagawa school, Yoshiiku is also known as 'Utagawa Yoshiiku', 'Ochiai Yoshiiku', 'Ikkeisai Yoshiiku', and 'Chokoaro'. Many of Japan's greatest woodcut artists of the latter half of the nineteenth century studied in the workshop of the master artist and designer, Kuniyoshi (1798-1861). The most notable were Yoshitoshi, Yoshiiku, Yoshitora, Yoshikazu and Yoshifuji. The 'Yoshi' prefix, in fact, was somewhat like a title which indicated that these artists belonged to Kuniyoshi's famous school. By the mid 1870's Yoshitoshi had risen to be the most famous artist of his era. Yet, for the decade following the death of Kuniyoshi (in 1861), the heir apparent to carry on his masterful warrior and actor woodcuts was Yoshiiku. |
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More than any of Kuniyoshi's pupils, Utagawa Yoshiiku continued the striking design elements of his master. These included powerful portrayals of motion and gesture combined with brilliant colour modulations such as this original woodcut depicting two warriors in battle. Utagawa Yoshiiku's affinity to his master during this decade is reinforced by the fact that he was commissioned to create the important memorial woodcut portrait of Kuniyoshi shortly after his death. |
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The Taiheiki Eiyuden (Heroes from the chronicles of the Taiheiki Eiyuden) was published in 1867 by Hirookaya Kosuke (Hirokaya Kosuke). The completed set consisted of one hundred chuban sized woodcuts, each depicting a famous warrior. The Chronicles of the Taiheiki was a fourteenth century epic covering one of the most troubled and violent epochs of Japanese history. In 1850, Kuniyoshi had designed his own set of woodcuts on this subject entitled, Heroes of the Taiheiki. The designs for the 1867 set entitled, Taiheiki Eiyuden were equally divided between Utagawa Yoshiiku (1833-1904) and Ichieisai Yoshitsuya (1822-1867). As both were major students of Kuniyoshi, these woodcuts bear some stylistic similarities to the earlier set. |
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Under Kuniyoshi and his pupils, the Warrior print reached its summit during the 1850's and 1860's. In part, impetus for these works of art came from the political and social events of the times. Japan witnessed a series of minor civil wars which led finally to the defeat of the Shogun and the restoration of the monarchy (1868). As well unease over the arrival of Western powers was felt throughout the land. The portrayal of the warrior hero thus assumed great prominence in Japanese woodcut art. |
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Saito Toshimitsu also known as 'Saito Toshizo', and as 'Saito Toshikazu' was a Japanese samurai warrior, the principal retainer of Akechi Mitsuhide (1526-1582). Saito Toshikazu was the Izu-no-kami (Governor) of Ikuchiyama in Tamba Province and a member of the Saito clan which was a Japanese samurai group (family), from Echizen Province. The word (kami) loosely translates to (Lord, Governor, God). Another legendary portrait of the samurai Saito Kuranoshin Toshikazu was created by Kuniyoshi. It was the thirty-sixth oban sized woodcut for the series entitled, Taiheiki eiyuden (Heroes of the Great Peace) published by Yamamotoya Heikichi between (1848-1850). The Japanese artist, "Tsukioka Yoshitoshi also created a woodcut entitled, Saito Toshimitsu for his series entitled, One Hundred Aspects of the Moon. In this original woodcut, Yoshiiku depicts the two warriors in an underwater battle. |
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An original woodcut by Utagawa Yoshiiku, Saito Izu no kami Toshimitsu, a samurai in battle with a warrior hails from the series Taiheiki eiyuden (Heroes from the chronicles of the Taiheiki). It is characteristic of the great warrior woodcuts of the 1860's. As the Meiji period (1868-1912) began, the art of the Japanese woodcut fell under the influence of Western trends. Thus this woodcut, with its wonderful form and movement, is indicative of the last great work of the famous classic art of Kuniyoshi, his school and the art of Utagawa Yoshiiku (Ochiai Yoshiiku). |
| Size: |
9 7/8 X 7 (Sizes in inches are approximate,
height preceding width of plate-mark or image.) |
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Matted with 100% Archival Materials |
| Buy Now |
Price: $395.00 US |
| Condition: |
Printed on mid nineteenth century Japanese mulberry (rice) paper and with full margins as published by Hirookaya Kosuke (Hirokaya Kosuke) in 1867. Containing slight scuffing in the margins, else a richly printed impression and
in excellent condition throughout. Saito Izu no kami Toshimitsu, a samurai in battle with a warrior from the series: Taiheiki eiyuden Heroes from the chronicles of the Taiheiki represents a superb example of the 19th century art of
the warrior woodcut and the art of Utagawa Yoshiiku. |
| Important Information: |
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