Utagawa Kunisada

Utagawa Kunisada (born 1786, Edo [Tokyo]—died Jan. 13, 1865, Edo) was a Japanese artist who was probably the most prolific of all the painters and printmakers of the ukiyo-e (“pictures of the floating world”) movement. He was particularly known for his erotically decadent portraits of women, executed with a powerful, free style. Kunisada also excelled at portraits of actors, which were frequently more original than those of his teacher Utagawa Toyokuni. His masterpiece is a series of illustrations for Nise murasaki inaka genji, a parody by Ryūtei Tanehiko of The Tale of Genji (Genji monogatari).