Posted by Geoff on June 04, 2001 at 01:59:51:
In Reply to: Re: Kuni yoshi, Kunisada... posted by George Aar on June 03, 2001 at 05:36:18:
: I am, by no stretch of the imagination, an expert,
: but I would suggest just learning to identify a few signatures would be a great help.
: Stylistically, with the exception of Toyokuni I versus Toyokuni II and Kunisada I (Toyokuni III) versus Kunisada II the artists you mention are pretty easy to tell apart.
: With Kunisada II (who I think is indistinguishable in style from his master Toyokuni III) the give away is in the "sada" character of his signature, which has a distinctive crook in it compared with Kunisada I. Also, whenever the signature "Kunisada" is placed within a Toshidama seal cartouche, as was common after about 1851, it's always Kunisada II as Kunisada I had taken the name Toyokuni by that time.
: Toyokuni I & II are a little more difficult, however the early T. I signatures are easy to spot with a little experience (small, squarish,timid [?]) His signature tends to stay more squared off then II and III, but gets a little more flamboyant in later prints. Toyokuni II's signature generally has a tell-tale characteristic in the "toyo" character. The "window pane" (my description) part of that character usually is much wider at the top and tapers in toward the bottom (just the opposite is generally the case with Toyokuni III).
: Kunichika is probably most distinguishable by his obvious wooden, dead-pan expressions on the faces of his subjects. Of course most of the other Meiji-era artist prints weren't much better, but his really are dreadful IMNSHO. Anyway, his signature is really easy to read and hard to be confused with others.
: Kuniyoshi, while somewhat similar to Kunisada, has a very definite style that will be easy to spot with a little more exposure, and his signature is also hard to mistake for any others.
: geo.
Hi Elmer
Try the "Signatures of Ukiyo-e Artists" at http:www.bahnhof.se its a brilliant site, which I find useful.
Geoff