Japanese artist - Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Utagawa Kuniyoshi was a Japanese master who created woodblock prints and paintings. Born in 1797 to a silk-dyer, he helped his father's business as a pattern designer. His drawing talent from an early age attracted the attention of the famous print master Utagawa Toyokuni, and Kuniyoshi became one of his apprentices in 1811.

More than any other Japanese artist, Kuniyoshi depicted cats with great accuracy and careful observation. Most of his cat's are short-tailed and bicolored.

His style of art is known as ukiyo-e which features vivid colors and gentle gradations.

	Self Portrait
	Woman reading a fortune-telling book to choose a wedding date
	These prints of beautiful women are known as bijin-ga.
	More of Kuniyoshi's bijin-ga