UTAGAWA KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
PROPERTY FROM THE SPRINGFIELD MUSEUMS, SOLD TO SUPPORT ART ACQUISITIONS AND COLLECTIONS CARE
UTAGAWA KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)

Sashu Tsukahara setchu (Nichiren in the snow at Tsukahara on Sado Island)

Details
UTAGAWA KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Sashu Tsukahara setchu (Nichiren in the snow at Tsukahara on Sado Island)
Woodblock print, from the series Koso goichidai ryakuzu (Sketches of the life of the Great Priest), signed Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi hitsu, published by Iseya Rihei (Kinjudo), circa 1830-35
Horizontal oban: 9 1/8 x 14 3/8 in. (23.2 x 36.5 cm.)
Provenance
Raymond A. Bidwell (1876-1954), Springfield, Massachusetts
Hayashi Tadamasa (1853-1906), Paris
Literature
The Raymond A. Bidwell Collection of Prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (Massachusetts: The Raymond A. Bidwell and Bertha U. Bidwell Fund, 1968), pl. 17.
Exhibited
Joan Whitney Payson Gallery of Art, Portland, Maine, 25 February-9 April, 1989
“Utagawa Kuniyoshi”, Springfield Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts, 1980, exh. cat. pl. 32
“Exhibition of Ukiyo-e by Utagawa Kuniyoshi”, Riccar Art Museum, Tokyo, 23 November-24 December, 1978, exh. cat. pl. 184

Brought to you by

Takaaki Murakami (村上高明)
Takaaki Murakami (村上高明) Vice President, Specialist and Head of Department | Korean Art

Lot Essay

A solitary figure bracing himself against the wind, trudges up an exposed, snow-covered mountain slope near Tsukahara on Sado island. Snow falls thickly from a dark sky. This is Nichiren, sent into exile by the regent Hojo Tokimune in 1271. It is believed that this print must have been very popular during Kuniyoshi’s lifetime and it remains one of Kuniyoshi’s best-known designs.
Although there is debate surrounding the many editions of this print and which should be considered the first, it is generally believed that prints without the horizon line (as with the print offered here) are indicative of the first edition.

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