Untitled

Utagawa Kunisada II

1852–64 · Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper · Asian Art

Kunisada II, a pupil of Utagawa Kunisada, placed his signature on the lantern in the foreground. Before his marriage to Kunisada's daughter in 1846, his prints were usually signed Baidō Kunimasa; from then on he used the artist's name Kunisada II, until the death of his father-in-law in 1870, when he began to use the name Toyokuni IV. Two love poems, one by Chokujuen Junma and one by Kiō Enba, are hidden in the night sky.

Artist

Utagawa Kunisada II

Date

1852–64

Medium

Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

The Howard Mansfield Collection, Purchase, Rogers Fund, 1936