Man Holding A Parasol

Artist Toyohara Kunichika (Tokyo, Japan, 1835 - 1900)

Date1865

Mediumcolour woodcut on paper

ClassificationsPrints

DimensionsOverall: Height: 36.1 cm, Width: 24.4 cm
Frame: Height: 65.2 cm, Width: 50.1 cm

CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG007468

Keywords

About MeA pupil of Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III), Kunichika was successful for his portrait prints of actors in the Meiji period (1868-1912), at this time ukiyo-e was in decline due to the influence of social modernization and westernization brought by the Meiji Restoration.

The story is based on a real scandal in the late Edo period. The role of the actor is Suzuki Mondo, a samurai who committed a double suicide with a prostitute in 1801.
The distinguishing characteristics of Kunichika's portrait are the depiction of the subject's eyes, in particular the pupil, which reveal the actor's expression very well. The vibrant colours are distinctive of his works.

Signature: Kunichika Censor's seal: Nov. 1865
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Kunichika was a master of wood-block prints in a career spanning the change from Japan's traditional Edo period to the modernism, industrialisation and Western contact of the Meiji period.