Utagawa Toyokuni II

“Toyokuni ga” (豊国画) signatures of (from left to right) Toyokuni I, Toyokuni II (Toyoshige) and Toyokuni III (Kunisada)

Utagawa Toyokuni II (1777–1835), also known as Toyoshige, was a designer of ukiyo-e Japanese woodblock prints in Edo. He was the pupil, son-in-law and adopted son of Toyokuni I. The former used the name Toyoshige (豊重) until 1826, the year after his teacher’s death, when he began signing his work Toyokuni (豊国). Kunisada, another student of Toyokuni I, did not recognize Toyoshige’s claim and declared himself “Toyokuni” and leader of the school. Toyoshige resumed signing his work “Toyoshige”.

Toyokuni I, Toyokuni II (Toyoshige), and Toyokuni III (Kunisada) each used the signature Toyokuni (豊国). The signature of Toyokuni II is easiest to distinguish by the chalice-shaped toyo (豊) kanji (see figure).

Toyoshige’s students include Utagawa Kunimatsu, Utagawa Kunishige II, Utagawa Kuniteru III, and Utagawa Kunitsuru I.

Legacy

Works by Utagawa Toyokuni II are held in the Library of Congress, including the work The Sumo Wrestler Kagamiiwa of the West Side.^[1]

Gallery

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  Eight Famous Views (Meisho Hakkei), Night Rain at Oyama (Maya Mountain), a woodblock print by Toyokuni II

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  Two Figures Outside an Engawa, From the series Mitate: Sanjuroku Kasen, ca. 1849.

References

Notes

1. "The Sumo Wrestler Kagamiiwa of the West Side". World Digital Library. Retrieved 6 May 2013.

Cited works

• Lane, Richard. (1978). Images from the Floating World, The Japanese Print. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780192114471; OCLC 5246796
• Newland, Amy Reigle. (2005). Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints. Amsterdam: Hotei. ISBN 9789074822657; OCLC 61666175