Page 183 - 2021 March 16th Japanese and Korean Art, Christie's New York City

180 UTAGAWA KUNIYOSHI

(1797–1861)

Minamoto Yorimitsu ko no
yakata ni tsuchigumo yokai

o nasu zu (The Earth Spider
generates monsters at the

Mansion of Lord Minamoto
Yorimitsu)

Woodblock prints, each sheet signed Ichiyusai
Kuniyoshi ga, published by Ibaya Senzaburo,
1843
Vertical oban triptych: 14¬ x 10 in. (37.1 x 25.4
cm.) each approx. (3)

$5,000-7,000

The evil Earth Spider conjures up a battle of demons
to torment the unwell Raiko (Yorimitsu) in his sleep
(far right), whilst his retainers play go. This design got
Kuniyoshi into trouble with the authorities because
it was felt that it was a caricature of the shogun
Tokugawa Ieyoshi (ruled 1837-53) and his hated chief
minister, Mizuno Tadakuni (1794-1851). As a result
the blocks were destroyed. Despite the controversy,
soon after the print's popularity resulted in two
pirated versions being produced from completely
re-cut blocks, each with notable differences when
compared to the original. This print is the original
version. For a detailed comparison of the different
versions see T. Clark, Kuniyoshi: From the Arthur R.
Miller Collection, (Royal Academy of Arts, London,
2009), cat. 124 and 125, p. 268-269.