Linocuts and Kunisada

While travelling round the Netherlands in 2017 I visited the Japan Museum SeiboldHuis in Leiden. At the time they had an extensive collection of Japanese prints by the famous print artist Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865). I have a fascination for most things Japanese, and this was no exception. Stunningly beautiful color prints.

He was the most productive and successful Japanese artist of the 19th century. He had a career spanning some 55 years and produced more than 25,000 prints. There were about 50 prints and paintings in the Leiden museum. Cortisans and Geishas make up much of his material along with a fair amount of erotica (Shunga) and fearsome looking samuri. His most beautiful works in my eyes are his landscape scenes with their beautiful vibrant colors and stunning detail.

It was a feast for the eyes and as a result of that visit I decided I would create a couple of linocuts as an ‘Ode to Kunisada’. Here is the first of those.