KUNIKAZU. Osaka-e. Diptych. Colored woodcuts.... Lot 164

KUNIKAZU. Osaka-e. Diptych. Colored woodcuts. 250x360 mm. Sign: Kunikazu ga. Excellent impression with metallic pigment (peacock feather pattern in Arashi's kimono, sword decoration). Diptych. Actors Arashi Rikan and Jitsukawa Enzaburo at night in a garden ready for the second fight, in the darkness, behind glowing maple leaves. Utagawa Kunikazu was active in the Osaka area between 1848 and 1868.1 While several sources list him as a student of Utagawa Kunisada I (1786-1865), a.k.a. Toyokuni III, others list him as a student of Toyokuni I and Toyokuni II without mentioning Kunisada. Mainly known for his prints of the kabuki theater, Roberts calls him a "highly accomplished technician" and Schwaab writes that "his better theatrical material produced between 1853 and the advent of aniline colors, includes some remarkably fine designs and an extraordinary level of printing."