Posted by Alan A. Anonymous on December 18, 1998 at 09:33:29:
In Reply to: Re: Utagawa Sadahide posted by Philip Callier on December 03, 1998 at 22:19:04:
: : Recently two prints of Utagawa Sadahide showing groups of samurai were offered to me and I haven't yet decided. I would like to know more on Utagawa Sadahide, reference material, reputation etc. Binyon & Sexton only tell me that he was a pupil of Kunisada. Any information is highly appreciated.
: : Thanks in advance, K.H.G.
Sadahide was a highly talented artist with a somewhat mixed output. The majority of his early production seems to have been warrior prints, which follow in the style of Kuniyoshi, though he also made some bijin-ga in the style of Kunisada. After the Meiji Restoration, Sadahide produced some of the best Yokohama-e available, and introduced some new pictorial styles that broadened the scope of ukiyo-e. These include his multi-sheet maps/views of Yokohama and Edo from the air, and triptychs in which figures were not confined to a single sheet, but swelled in closeup over all three.
These innovative prints are quite valuable, selling in Japan for thousands. The others range from double digits to triple, generally, depending on condition and image.
By the way, just as a personal note, I have in my collection a picture book by Sadahide produced shortly before the Meiji Restoration which has the most scathing satire of the loss of martial values among the samurai. Images include frail and aged warriors, sagging and effeminate warriors, and warriors wearing so much armor they cannot be seen beneath. An interesting political stance from a warrior print master on the state of Japan at the time.