Posted by Andrew (172.154.14.142) on January 05, 2006 at 00:32:38:
In Reply to: Re: Expulsion of Yoshitora by Kuniyoshi posted by Hans Olof Johansson on January 04, 2006 at 10:59:15:
Hello,
The earliest Yoshitora print which I personally have owned had the censor seal of Mura used in 1843 - 1845. So as you said the usual textbook description of his period of activity as being "1850 - 1880" is not really correct.
He started earlier than 1850 and some of his early prints are quite good, similar to the warrior prints of Kuniyoshi but in a more "raw" and aggressive style. I would guess he must have been born around 1820 or earlier.
On some Japanese internet sites the reason for his expulsion was vaguely described as a "disagreement" with Kuniyoshi. But I had not known at all about Yoshitora's punishment by the authorities, it's very interesting. So another strong possibility is that Kuniyoshi saw him as being too reckless and a political liability. It could be - not a personal disagreement per se, just a pragmatic decision that Yoshitora could not continue to be associated with his studio.
Horst Graebner has interpreted the prefix to the signature which appears on this controversial print (it appears also on some Kunisada prints of the same period) as meaning something like "according to the tastes of ..."
So perhaps Yoshitora intended this print to be a kind of joke, in which he should be allowed some artistic license. But clearly the portraits of the Tokugawa are silly and unflattering. So I can see why this design would NOT be "according to the tastes" of the authorities.
That is an important piece of information which I had never known before.
Andrew