豊原国周（ネオ江戸 : 青山目黒)　

Toyohara Kunichika (1835–1900) was a superstar who embodied the heyday of the Utagawa school during its final period, yet he is a major figure of his time who is almost forgotten today. Kunichika's artistic career began in the Meiji era. However, the motifs he depicted were consistently those of a fictional world of "Edo that had already been lost," a Meiji-eraized version. While photography and oil painting rapidly spread, and other artists shifted to new fields such as modernization paintings and war paintings, Kunichika did not touch them at all. There is no impression that he was "at the mercy of the times"; he rejected realism and chose to maximize the expressive power of the ukiyo-e medium. Kunichika transformed the "skillfulness in capturing characteristics" that had been expected of artists up to that point into the deformed character depictions that are similar to those in modern manga and anime. His works are as delicate and vividly colored as paper jewelry, using the latest imported materials and employing the most highly skilled craftsmen. Kunichika's work sparked popularity for actors and stage productions, and his paintings sold as character merchandise, creating a virtuous cycle of commercial success. He was a go-getter art director, arguably at the pinnacle of the art market at the time. He took a conceptual approach, reinterpreting the good old days as cutting-edge, transforming ukiyo-e into pop art, pioneering the best aspects of modern art. However, with the sudden incorporation of Western art historical values and the emphasis on ukiyo-e's influence on Impressionism, Kunichika's work fell outside that framework. As a result, despite being so major and innovative, he is almost forgotten today. This obscurity, along with his enigmatic attitude of resolutely refusing to identify himself as a direct descendant of the Utagawa school, makes him the perfect subject to be reintroduced in the space of contemporary art.

Year of creation: Genji 1 (1864)