Toyokuni III Utagawa (1786–1865) “geisha” Oban Tate-e Woodblock Print

UTAGAWA Toyokuni III (1786–1865) "Geisha" Oban tate-e print

Japanese print signed by Utagawa Toyokuni III (Utagawa Kunisada) (1786–1865)
Oban Tate-e depicting a scene with a geisha

Dimensions
of the frame: 57.5 x 43.5 cm
of the print: 37.5 x 24.5 cm

Utagawa Kunisada or Utagawa Toyokuni III (1786–1865)
Born in Edo, he was taken on as an apprentice around 1800 by one of the greatest masters of woodblock printing, Toyokuni.
He began by creating prints of actors, a specialty of the Utagawa school.
In 1844–1845, Utagawa Kunisada changed his artist name, adopting his master’s name, Toyokuni, and thus became Toyokuni III (Toyokuni II being Utagawa Toyoshige, another of Toyokuni’s students who became head of the school after Toyokuni’s death in 1825).
During this transitional year, Utagawa Kunisada signed many of his prints “Kunisada, soon to be Toyokuni II,” a deliberate affront to Toyoshige, whom he believed had usurped the rightful position.
He occasionally collaborated with Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi on series of prints produced in the 1840s and 1850s, at a time when Japan was undergoing rapid expansion and woodblock prints were in high demand.
At the time this print was created, he was at the peak of his career and dominated the market for prints featuring kabuki actors.
He died after his two major contemporaries, Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi, who passed away in 1858 and 1861, respectively. His final years were marked by a resurgence in quality: his series were far more inspired and stood out from most of his earlier mass-produced works. He died in Edo after training several students, including Toyohara Kunichika and Utagawa Kunisada II.