Outlaw Swords of Death

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) is regarded as one of the true masters of ukiyo-e, the populist art of Edo-period Japan. Kuniyoshi produced thousands of prints and designs during his lifetime, but is perhaps best-known for his musha-e ("warrior prints"), with which he came to prominence around 1830. K [...]
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Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) is regarded as one of the true masters of ukiyo-e, the populist art of Edo-period Japan. Kuniyoshi produced thousands of prints and designs during his lifetime, but is perhaps best-known for his musha-e ("warrior prints"), with which he came to prominence around 1830. Kuniyoshi's series 108 Heroes Of The Suikoden was revolutionary in its dynamics, colour and visual violence, establishing the delirious, almost proto-psychedelic style with which the artist would recreate archetypal heroes, outlaws and renegades from Japanese history and legend over the ensuing decades. "Outlaw Swords Of Death" collects over 160 of Kuniyoshi's most striking and innovative early musha-e designs, presented in large-format and full-colour throughout. The collection includes all 74 prints in the series 108 Heroes, and also a wide selection of the most dynamic images from his follow-up series 800 Heroes (1830-36), amongst numerous other examples of the genre in which Kuniyoshi remains unsurpassed. The designs range in date from around 1825 to 1845, his most productive and successful period. Many of these images became standard tattoo designs for fire-fighters and yakuza gangsters. The Ukiyo-e Master Series: presenting seminal collections of art by the greatest print-designers and painters of Edo-period and Meiji-period Japan.