Utagawa Kunisada also known as Utagawa Toyokuni III was the most popular, prolific and financially successful designer of ukiyo-e (woodblock prints) in 19th-century Japan. In his own time, his reputation far exceeded that of his contemporaries, Hokusai, Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi. He developed an early talent for painting and drawing, which impressed Toyokuni I, the great master of the Utagawa school and prominent designer of kabuki and actor-portrait prints. In 1800 or shortly thereafter, Kunisada was accepted by Toyokuni I as an apprentice in his workshop. By 1813 he had risen as a “star” of Edo’s artistic and until his death in early 1865, Kunisada remained one of the “trendsetters” of the Japanese woodblock print.
