Prints in Collection
Biographical Data
Biography
Utagawa Kunimatsu 歌川国松 or 歌川国枩 (1855-1944)Sources: Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints:1900 – 1975, Helen Merritt and Nanako Yamada, University of Hawaii. 1992, p. 165; Woodblock Kuchi-e Prints: Reflections of Meiji Culture, Helen Merritt and Nanako Yamada, University of Hawaii Press, 2000, p. 220; The Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints, Amy Reigle Newland, Hotei Publishing Company, 2005, Volume 2, p. 504.
Utagawa Kunimatsu, born Wada Kunijirō, was the third son of the artist Utagawa Kunitsuru I 歌川国鶴 (1807–1878) and the younger brother of the artist Utagawa Kunitsuru II. He studied with his father and with Kobayashi Eitaku (1843-1890) and Toyohara Kunichika (1835–1900).
Utagawa Kunimatsu, born Wada Kunijirō, was the third son of the artist Utagawa Kunitsuru I 歌川国鶴 (1807–1878) and the younger brother of the artist Utagawa Kunitsuru II. He studied with his father and with Kobayashi Eitaku (1843-1890) and Toyohara Kunichika (1835–1900).
He was one of a number of the lesser artists of the Meiji period who designed war prints (senso-e); scenic view prints (meisho-e) depicting popular locations in and around Yokohama [including the series Competition of Famous Places in Yokohama (Yokohama meishokyō)]; book illustrations for novels including several written by Iwaya Sazanami (1870-1933); and illustrations for various newspapers, including the Kyoto binode shimbun.
He lived in Yokohama, Tokyo and Osaka. It is said that he was left-handed.
He used the gō (artist names) Ichiryūsai Toyoshige 一龍斎 豊重, Fukudō 福堂 and Ganshū 玩舟. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston also records a signature on a print credited to him as Ichiōsai Kunimatsu, adding another gō used by the artist.
Signatures and Seals
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