Mattia Jona, Master Drawings and Prints, Japanese Prints - Piazzetta Guastalla 5, 20122 Milan, Italy, tel (+39) 02 8053315

TOYOHARA KUNICHIKA (1835 - 1900) FIREWORKS AT THE SUMIDA RIVER
Woodcut, 1884, from the series 'Contemporary Fifty-four Feelings'. The title of the series was punned with the fifty-four chapters of 'The Tales of Genji', the greatest novel in classical Japanese literature. This print refers to Chapter 27. Signed 'Toyohara Kunichika hitsu'. Very good impression and colour; full margins, minor faults, generally in good condition. 'Oban', 375 x 255 mm.

Around the age of eleven, Kunichika became a student of Chikanobu. At the age of thirteen he entered the studio of Kunisada as an apprentice. In 1864, Kunisada died and Kunichika designed two memorial prints of the deceased master. This indicates that he must have had acquired some kind of outstanding position at the Kunisada studio. Kunichika was a rather bohemian artist, there are several credible stories about his drinking habits and his brothel tours reported by his fellow artists Kawanabe Kyosai and Kobayashi Kiyochika. Another of his passions was Kabuki; the artist was a regular backstage visitor to Kabuki theaters where he spent hours making sketches of actors. Kunichika is foremost known as a designer of actor prints, but he also created prints of beautiful women and some designs with historic scenes.