Toyokuni Utagawa III (Kunisada), portrait of a Kabuki actor, after 1857, oban tate-e, signed Toyokuni ga, unframed 25 x 36,5 cm
 
In the first lunar month of 1844, when he was 58, Kunisada was awarded the name 'Toyokuni' which had been the name of his teacher who had died 19 years previously. Kunisada communicated his change of name in the signature used on the hundreds of prints that were published susequently. Kunisada was the undisputed leading print artist of the late Edo period, heading the Utagawa school for almost 40 years. In the mid-1820's, he started to integrate landscape views into designs of beaties and actors, but only rarely created pure landschapes or flower and bird pictures. Actor prints were his forte, as we can see here, but he also produced many beauty prints as well as illustrations for books, including almost 60 erotic titles. 
 
After censurship regulations were liberalised in the late 1840s, actor prints enjoyed a resurgence and the market was effectively dominated by Kunisada in the 1850s and 1860s. He operated the largest studio of any print artist and had dozens of students including Kunichika, Kunisada II and Sadahide. 
 
Condition: some restoration along the right edge, a small hole to the bottom left of the print, some minor stains to the paper but in our opinion, the item is in good condition.
 
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