Utagawa Kunisada I

An Old Man and a Young Woman from the Tale of Genji (Nise Murasaki Inaka Genji)

A pair of original woodcuts by Utagawa Kunisada I, An Old Man and a Young Woman from the Tale of Genji dates from between 1829 and 1842. During this period Ryutei Tanehiko (1783-1842), authored many volumes under the title of Nise murasaki inaka genji (False Murasaki and a Rural Genji), an updated adaptation of the 11th century classic tale of Prince Genji. Kunisada and his students illustrated each volume. These two woodcuts were printed on two adjoining pages; the one to the left portrays an old man, and to the right Kunisada depicts a beautiful woman, both are surrounded by hiragana script and possibly some kanji. The woodcuts are printed upon early 19th century Japanese rice paper and with full margins as published by Senkakudo for Japan's most popular illustrated book of the early nineteenth century; Nise murasaki inaka genji at the date stated. These original woodcuts are striking examples of the famous art of Utagawa Kunisada and of the Japanese woodcut of the early nineteenth century.

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Title:	An Old Man and a Young Woman from the Tale of Genji
Artist:	Utagawa Kunisada I, Utagawa 'Toyokuni III' (Japan, 1786 - 1864)
Date:	Between 1829 & 1842
Medium:	Original Japanese Woodcut
Publisher:	Senkakudo
Publication:	Nise murasaki inaka genji (False Murasaki and a Rural Genji)
Note:	Utagawa Kunisada I: Perhaps the best known printmaking artist of his day, Utagawa Kunisada apprenticed under Toyokuni. Kunisada’s earliest woodcuts date from 1809 and he quickly established himself as a master of figure and character studies. Because of his chronological changes of signatures, Kunisada’s woodcuts are not difficult to date: his first works were signed, ‘Ichiyusai Kunisada’, and bear the definite influence of his master. About 1813, he began inscribing his woodcuts, ‘Gototei Kunisada’, and from 1827, he adopted the ‘go’ or ‘ga’ suffix. Finally, in 1844, he took his deceased master’s name -- a not uncommon practice in Japanese art -- and signed his works, ‘Toyokuni’.
	When the Western world first discovered the artistic value of the Japanese woodcut (c. 1865) it was the designs of Kunisada which primarily attracted the greatest attention. His superb use of line, perspective and colour influenced an entire legion of European artists. Toulouse-Lautrec, Whistler, Van Gogh, Vuillard, Bonnard and many others all owed a considerable deal to the splendid creations of this Japanese master of the woodcut.
	Apart from his many individual prints of oban size, Utagawa Kunisada devoted much of his talents to the illustrated book. Besides Nise murasaki inaka genji Utagawa Kunisada also provided woodcuts for such e-hon (picture books) as Shika no nagame (c. 1830) and Yakusha sanju-rokkasen (1835).
	Nise murasaki inaka genji (False Murasaki and a Rural Genji): These two original woodcuts by Utagawa Kunisada, An Old Man and a Young Woman from the Tale of Genji date from between 1829 and 1842. Both woodcuts originate from Japan’s most popular illustrated book of the early nineteenth century; Nise murasaki inaka genji (False Murasaki and a Rural Genji). They were printed on two adjoining pages. A previous owner has joined the pages down the middle and laid them under the outer corners to a thin acid-free board. He has also skilfully restored some damage caused by silkworms along the lower margin. The woodcuts portray an old man to the left and a beautiful woman to the right. They are wearing the traditional kimono of the period; both are seated and facing each other. The images are surrounded by text on all sides, clearly showing Kunisada's gift for uniting form and image with calligraphy. The text on most of the woodcuts from the Nise murasaki inaka genji is hiragana script (a script developed from Chinese characters, mainly used by women or men who wrote in kanji), with the rare appearance of a kanji (Chinese character).
	Written by Ryutei Tanehiko (1783-1842), Nise murasaki inaka genji, was an updated adaptation of the 11th century classic tale of Prince Genji, liberally borrowing scenes from contemporary novels and the kabuki theatre. To say that the novel was popular might be an understatement. Between 1829 and 1842 Ryutei Tanehiko published thirty-eight chapters or installments of Genji, each illustrated by Utagawa Kunisada and his pupils. And, after the last chapter was published, the craze for scenes from Genji continued well into the century with the creation of further books by different authors and many more woodcuts on the Genji theme by not only Kunisada, but by such other great masters as Kuniyoshi and Yoshitoshi. Ryutei Tanehiko's, Nise murasaki inaka genji follows the exploits of the handsome warrior, Ashikaga Mitsuuji (second son of the 8th Ashikaga Shogun, Yoshimasa), a character based upon the "Shining Prince Genji" (Hikaru Genji, son of the emperor by a favored lady). Unlike the eleventh century setting portraying Japanese court culture of the Heian period (794 - 1185), described in the Tale of Genji, a novel, composed by the Lady-in waiting, Murasaki Shikibu (c. 973 - c. 1014 / 1025), Tanehiko's, Nise murasaki inaka genji takes place during the fifteenth century Ashikaga Shogunate, a feudal samurai government ruled by the shoguns of the Ashikaga family (1336-1573). Unfortunately, although the setting was based in the Ashikaga Shogunate, it was believed the Inaka Genji reflected much of the current Shogun, Tokugawa Ienari, and his court. Consequently, in 1842, during the Tenpo Reforms, the woodblocks for the Inaka Genji were confiscated and Tanehiko was told to seize publication. Soon after (1842), Ryutei Tanehiko died, leaving the last two chapters of his book unpublished.
Size:	6 1/4 x 8 1/4 (Sizes in inches are approximate, height preceding width of plate-mark or image.)

	Framed and Matted with 100% Archival Materials
Buy Now	Price: $345.00 US
Condition:	These original woodcuts are printed upon early nineteenth century Japanese mulberry (rice) paper and contain the full margins as published for one of the Nise murasaki inaka genji (False Murasaki and a Rural Genji) volumes between 1829 and 1842. As mentioned earlier a former owner has backed the prints at the corners to a rag board and also has finely repaired some silkworm damage along the lower margins; else these are good early impressions bearing all the fine lines an initial printing. An Old Man and a Young Woman from the Tale of Genji represents a fine, original example of the famous art of Kunisada and of the Japanese woodcut of the early nineteenth century.
Subject:	Utagawa Kunisada, Original Japanese Woodcut, An Old Man and a Young Woman from the Tale of Genji, Nise murasaki inaka genji (False Murasaki and a Rural Genji), Ryutei Tanehiko, Prince Genji, e-hon (picture books), hiragana (a script developed from Chinese characters, mainly used by women or men who wrote in kanji), kanji (Chinese character)
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Utagawa Kunisada I 'Toyokuni III' (Japan, 1786 - 1864)
#	Image	Title & Artist	Medium	Date	Notes	-
01.-		A Beautiful Woman from the Tale of Genji (Nise murasaki inaka genji) by Kunisada	Original Woodcut	1831	Publisher: Senkakudo
02.-		A Beautiful Woman in an Interior by Kunisada	Original Woodcut	c. 1849 - 1853	'Toyokuni' Signature, Publisher: Kichizo	Sold
03.-		Hana (Flowers) Kacho fugetsu no uchi (Series: Flowers, Birds, Wind & Moon) by Kunisada	Original Woodcut	1847 - 1851	Signed: Kochoro Toyokuni ga, Publisher: Yamamotoya Heikichi	Sold
04.-		A Nobleman in a Boat by Kunisada	Original Woodcut	c. 1820 - 1827	'Gototei Kunisada' Signature	Sold
05.-		A Pilgrimage to Mount Fuji by Kunisada	Original Woodcut	c. 1849 - 1853	'Toyokuni' Signature, Publisher: Tsutaya Kichizo	Sold
06.-		A Seated Nobleman from the Tale of Genji (Nise Murasaki Inaka Genji) by Kunisada	Original Woodcut	1839	Publisher: Senkakudo	Sold
07.-		Actors Arashi Hinasuke I as Oboshi Yuranosuke and Ichikawa Monnosuke III as Oboshi Rikiya Seated in Front of the Prayer Table	Original Woodcut	1847-1852	Signed: Ichiyosai Toyokuni ga, Publisher: Miyakozawa
08.-		Actors Ichimura Uzaemon XIII as Kincho's Son (Segare) Kinko, Seki Sanjuro III as Iyam (Playing Hagoita) by Kunisada	Original Woodcut	1856	Signed: Toyokuni ga, Publisher: Omiya Kyujiro
09.-		An Actor in The Role of a Warrior, Kabuki Play (Ichikawa Ebizo V as Shirafuji Genta) by Kunisada	Original Woodcut	1840	Signed: Gototei Kunisada ga, Publisher: Yamamotoya Heikich	Sold
10.-		An Autumn Stroll in a Garden Landscape by Kunisada	Original Woodcut	1854	'Toyokuni' Signature	Sold
11.-		An Old Man and a Young Woman from the Tale of Genji (Nise Murasaki Inaka Genji) by Kunisada	Two Original Woodcuts	Between 1829 & 1842	Publisher: Senkakudo
12.-		Biwa-Hoshi On The Tokaido Road Near Maisaka: Sohitsu gojusan tsugi (The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido by two Brushes) by Kunisada and Hiroshige	Original Woodcut	c. 1854 - 1857	Signed Hiroshige ga & Kunisada ga, Publisher: Maruya Kishuro	Sold
13.-		Narumi: Sohitsu gojusan tsugi (The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido by two Brushes) by Kunisada and Hiroshige	Original Woodcut	c. 1854 - 1857	Hiroshige hitsu & Toyokuni ga (with Censor Seals), Publisher: Maruya Kishuro	Sold
14.-		Genji noryo no kei (Nobleman With a Fan, Banks of the Sumida River, Edo) by Kunisada	Original Woodcut	1861	Toyokuni' Signature, Publisher: Hiranoya
15.-		Portrait of a Nobleman with a Fan and a Flute by Kunisada	Original Woodcut	c. 1820 - 1827	'Gototei Kunisada' Signature	Sold
16.-		Princess Takiyasha-hime (The Beautiful Sorceress) by Kunisada	Original Woodcut	1850	'Toyokuni' Signature, Publisher: Sumiyoshiya Masagoro, of Yotsuya	Sold
17.-		Sangi Hitoshi (Ogura Hyakunin Isshu - A Pictoral Comentary on One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets) by Kunisada	Original Woodcut	1845	Signed: Ichiyusai Toyokuni ga, Publisher: Sanoya Kihei
18.-		The Legend of The Nine Tailed Fox (Yamato Province: Fox (Kitsune) Tadanobu) by Kunisada I and Kunisada II	Original Woodcut	1845	Signed: Ichiyosai Toyokuni ga (within the main image); Toyokuni monjin Kunimasa ga (on the insert) Publisher: Aamitaya Kiyoyemon	Sold
19.-		Three Figures in a Winter Landscape (Travelers in the Snow) by Kunisada	Original Woodcut	c.1820 - 1827	'Gototei Kunisada' Signature	Sold
20.-		Yotsuya: Actor Bando Hikosaburo V as the Ghost of Oiwa (Flowers of Edo and Views of Famous) by Kunisada and Sadahide	Original Woodcut	1863	Signed: Toyokuni ga, (bottom right); & Tou ga (top); Sadahide ga (Bottom left), Publisher: Katoya Iwazo

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