Two Antique Japanese Woodblock Prints by Kunisada Seven Autumn Flowers c. Presented is a pair of beautiful Japanese full oban-size woodblock prints created by the renowned artist of the late Edo period Utagawa Kunisada (1786 – 1864), also known as Kunisada I and Toyokuni III. Kunisada I Utagawa was a prolific woodblock print artist mostly known for his pictures of beautiful women (bijinga) and kabuki actors prints (yakusha-e). Kunisada’s pictures reflect the culture of Japan in the years leading up to the country’s opening to the West. His first book illustrations were published in 1807 and his first actor portrait the following year. Alongside theatrical scenes and courtesans, yakusha-e was his preferred genre amidst all his popular and extensive output. As he painted a large number of these, continuing the stout realism of his teacher, he acquired the nickname’Yakusha-e no Kunisada’ – Kunisada, the actor painter. In his numerous bijinga he clung to the ideal of beauty prevalent at the time. Most of the women portrayed were courtesans from Yoshiwara, the regulated red-light district of the city. Many museums in the world have Kunisada works: British Museum Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY Museum of Fine Arts in Boston Tokyo National Museum Museum of Fine Arts in Houston Honolulu Museum of Art and many others The two prints presented are two out of three parts of a triptych called “Enjoying the Garden with the Seven Flowering Plants of Autumn (Niwa asobi kusabana no nanamoji)”. They show the inside of the house with a man of the house sitting by a traditional Japanese musical instrument called. The room is open to the garden with different flowers blooming on a warm August day. The ladies of the house are enjoing the aroma and a fresh breeze from the garden. This is a beautiful sneak peek into the everyday life of the Japanese middle class in the last years before the Meiji Restoration. The print was made using the Japanese woodblock technique. AUTHOR: Utagawa Kunisada I (Toyokuni III) TITLE: Enjoying the Garden with the Seven Flowering Plants of Autumn (Niwa asobi kusabana no nanamoji) CREATED: c. Paper METHOD OF PRINTING: Woodblock printing PRINTED: Lifetime printing circa 1850 OVERALL SIZE: Full oban size 14″ X 19.5″ two prints assembled. The condition is very good. Good detail and colors, some minor darkening of the paper. Very minor paper loss iat the edges. No backing – the paper is fragile, be very careful! Get Supersized Images & Free Image Hosting. Attention Sellers – Get Templates Image Hosting, Scheduling at Auctiva. Track Page Views With.