Previous   Next
Home » Images » 0074 Pictures From History » CPA0036524

Japan: 'The Five Nations Enjoying a Drunken Revel at the Gankiro Tea House'. Triptych print by Ochiai Yoshiiku (1833-1904), 1860, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

Japan: 'The Five Nations Enjoying a Drunken Revel at the Gankiro Tea House'. Triptych print by Ochiai Yoshiiku (1833-1904), 1860, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

Utagawa Yoshiiku (1833 – 6 February 1904), also known as Ochiai Yoshiiku, was a Japanese artist of the Utagawa school. Born the son of teahouse proprietor Asakusa Tamichi in 1833, Yoshiiku became a student of ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi towards the end of the 1840s. His earliest known work dates to 1852 when he provided the backgrounds to some actor prints by his master.

Yoshiiku's earliest works were portraits of actors, beauties, and warriors. He later followed Kuniyoshi into making satirical and humorous pieces, and became the leading name in the field after Kuniyosh's death in 1861. He illustrated the Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun (Tokyo Daily News) from 1874 to 1876, and then co-founded the Tokyo E-iri Shinbun (Tokyo Illustrated News). The latter folded in 1889, and Yoshiiku returned to making prints.

Quick links to other images in this gallery: