Utagawa's Lifetime Masterpiece, from the Japanese version of the Shuihu Zhuan
Utagawa Kunisada
1863 (5th month)
Medium
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
14 1/8 x 28 1/2 in. (35.9 x 72.4 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Lincoln Kirstein, 1960
Accession Number
JP3376
Tags
SwordsActors
About the Artist
Utagawa Kunisada · 1786–1864
**Utagawa Kunisada (1786–1865)** Born in 1786 in the Honjo district of Edo (modern Tokyo), Utagawa Kunisada hailed from a family with a hereditary ferry-boat service that provided financial stability, allowing him to pursue art from a young age. His father, an amateur poet of note, died shortly after his birth, leaving young Sumida Shōgorō (Kunisada's childhood name) to nurture his evident talent...