Utagawa Kuniteru II
Utagawa Kuniteru II ニ代 歌川国輝 (1830-1874)
BIOGRAPHY
Sources: The Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints, Amy Reigle Newland, Hotei Publishing Company, 2005, p. 503; A Dictionary of Japanese Artists: Painting, Sculpture, Ceramics, Prints, Lacquer, Laurance P. Roberts, Weatherhill, 1976, p. 97-98.Utagawa Kuniteru II (1830-1874)1 was born Yamada Kunijirō 山田国次郎 in Edo (Tokyo) and was a print designer, painter and book illustrator. He studied under Utagawa Kunisada I (1786–1865). He produced yakusha-e (actor pictures), bijinga (beautiful women pictures), fuzokuga (pictures of manors and customs), meisho-e (pictures of famous places) sumo-e (pictures of wrestlers), educational prints (kyōiku nishiki-e) and, most famously, bunmei kaika-e (pictures of modernization) in a late Utagawa-school manner.
True Picture of a Five-Story Building at Kaiun Bridge (Mitsui House) First National Bank of Japan, 1872
Utagawa Kuniteru II
Source: Japan Awakens: Woodblock Prints of the Meiji Period (1868-1912),
Barry Till, Pomegranate Communications, Inc., 2008, p. 90.
He was known by various names, including the artist names (gō) Ichiyōsai 一曜斎, Ichiyūsai 一雄斎, Yōsai 曜斎, Ichiransai 一蘭斎, and Kunitsuna II 国綱 (ニ代), Ichiransai Kunitsuna 一蘭斎国綱 and Ikkasai Kunitsuna. Before 1844 he may also have been known as Sadashige 貞重 and signed works with the name Ichiyūsai. He changed his name in 1865 to Kuniteru II.
For more information on this artist and other artists using the name Kuniteru see Utagawa Kuniteru 初代 歌川国輝 (active c. 1820-1860)
1 A Dictionary of Japanese Artists, lists his birth date as 1829, but most other sources list it as 1830.
Signatures and Seals of the Artist (a sampling)
国綱画
Kunitsuna ga
国綱画
Kunitsuna ga within Toshidama cartouche
一蘭斎国綱画
Ichiransai Kunitsuna ga
一蘭斎国綱画
Ichiransai Kunitsuna ga
国輝画 Kuniteru ga
国輝画
Kuniteru ga
国輝画 Kuniteru ga within gourd-shaped cartouche
国輝筆 Kuniteru hitsu followed by Toshidama seal
国輝筆 Kuniteru hitsu followed by Toshidama seal
一雄斎国輝画
Ichiyūsai Kuniteru ga
一雄斎国輝画
Ichiyūsai Kuniteru ga
followed by Toshidama seal
一雄斎国輝画
Ichiyūsai Kuniteru ga
一曜斎国輝画
Ichiyōsai Kuniteru ga
応需 一曜斎国輝 冩〓
ōju Ichiyōsai Kuniteru
followed by unread
曜斎国輝画
Yōsai Kuniteru ga
曜齋国輝摸寫
Yōsai Kuniteru mosha
Prints in Collection
[BELOW PRINTS GIFTED TO THE JORDAN SCHNITZER MUSEUM OF ART, UNIVERSITY OF OREGON]
click on thumbnail for print details
Illustration of the Record of the Rise and Fall [of the Heike and Genji clans] in Renga, 1866
IHL Cat. #2266
Illustration of Battalion Military Drill, 1867
IHL Cat. #2073*
Illustration of Mitsui Group's Western-style Three Story House at Surugacho, Tokyo, 1873
IHL Cat. #342* and #1187*
(left two panels only)
Mansei Bridge from the series
A Comparison of Metropolitan Tokyo's Proud Heritage, 1874
IHL Cat. #1170*
Educational Prints Attributed to Kuniteru II or The School of Kuniteru II
Pilferer
from the series
Little Child's Pictures for Home Entertainment, 1873
(attributed to the school of
Utagawa Kuniteru II)
IHL Cat. #617*
Young Boys' Rough Behavior
from the series
Little Child's Pictures for Home Entertainment, 1873
(attributed to the school of
Utagawa Kuniteru II)
IHL Cat. #2058*
A Boy Who Likes to Fight
from the series
Little Child's Pictures for Home Entertainment, 1873
(attributed to the school of
Utagawa Kuniteru II)
IHL Cat. #2170*
Good Girls Showing Concern
from the series
Little Child's Pictures for Home Entertainment, 1873
(attributed to the school of
Utagawa Kuniteru II)
IHL Cat. #2059*
A Young Boy Studying
from the series
Little Child's Pictures for Home Entertainment, 1873
IHL Cat. #2261*
Waterwheel
from an untitled series on
the Rice Plant, 1873
(attributed to the school of
Utagawa Kuniteru II)
IHL Cat. #632*
Rice Storage
from an untitled series on
the Rice Plant, 1873
(attributed to the school of
Utagawa Kuniteru II)
IHL Cat. #633*
[Principles and Applications of the] Wheel and Axle from an untitled series on Mechanics, 1873
(attributed to the school of
Utagawa Kuniteru II)
IHL Cat. #765 and
IHL Cat. #2055*
[Principles and Applications of the] Lever
from an untitled series on Mechanics, 1873
(attributed to the school of
Utagawa Kuniteru II)
IHL Cat. #766*
[Principles and Applications of the] Wedge from an untitled series on Mechanics, 1873
(attributed to the school of
Utagawa Kuniteru II)
IHL Cat. #767*
Thomas Carlyle
from the series Legends of Great Westerners, 1873
(attributed to the school of
Utagawa Kuniteru II)
IHL Cat. #1970*
Richard Arkwright
from the series Legends of
Great Westerners, 1873
(attributed to the school of
Utagawa Kuniteru II)
IHL Cat. #1971*
Benjamin Franklin
from the series Legends of
Great Westerners, 1873
(attributed to the school of
Utagawa Kuniteru II)
IHL Cat. #2054*
Air and Water from an untitled series on the Natural Sciences, 1873
IHL Cat. #2311*