Triptychs
Kuniyoshi's outstanding contribution to
Japanese art is also to be found in his warrior triptychs. The designs for
these triptychs were so distinctive because of his use of masses of black.
The three seperate sheets display a clear and dramatic untiy and show a
broad appreciation of the possibilities of this format rarely found by
Kuniyoshi's predecessors. The individual sheets of the triptychs by, for
instance, Kiyonaga and Utamaro can also be appreciated as isolated images
but in Kuniyoshi's finest work the sheets are inseperable if the force of
the composition is to be experienced.
Influence
When Kuniyoshi became a master himself he
trained a large number of pupils such as Yoshitora, Yoshimori, Yoshitsuya,
Yoshiiku and Yoshikazu. They all worked in a similar style and tradition as
Kuniyoshi designing triptychs not unworthy of their master.
But it was his most talented student Yoshitoshi who developed a unique
individual Western orientated style on the same level as his teacher.
Yoshitoshi also designed a series on the Suikoden Heroes consisting of 50
chuban prints which are darker in tone and have a more ominous atmosphere.
Kuniyoshi's Suikoden designs also had a defining influence on the fashion of
body tattoos in Japan.
Ukiyo-e Artists
Torii Kiyonaga (1752-1815)
Takizawa Bakin (1767-1848)
Katsukawa Shuntei (1770-1820)
Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806)
Katsukawa Hokusai (1760-1849)
Utagawa Toyokuni I (1769-1825)
Utagawa Yoshitora (act. 1850-1880)
Utagawa Yoshimori (1830-1884)
Utagawa Yoshitsuya (1822-1866)
Utagawa Yoshiiku (1833-1904)
Utagawa Yoshikazu (act. ca. 1850-1870)
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892)
Books on Kuniyoshi
'Kuniyoshi, the Warrior Prints'
by B.W. Robinson
'Of Brigands and Bravery-Kuniyoshi's Heroes of the
Suikoden' by I. Klompmakers
'Heroes and Ghosts: Japanese Prints by
Kuniyoshi 1797-1861' by R.Schaap &
Timothy T. Clark & M. Forrer