Toyohara Chikanobu and Utagawa Toyonobu

TOYOHARA CHIKANOBU (1838-1912) and UTAGAWA TOYONOBU (1859-1886), 19th century.
Pair of woodcut prints, one of them a diptych.
Measurements: 36 x 25 and 47 x 34,8 cm (diptych).

The prints by Toyohara Chikanobu (1838-1912), active in the Meiji era, combine the traditional elegance of ukiyo-e with an interest in the social changes of his time: they depict historical scenes, imperial court life and refined female figures (bijin-ga), often in brightly colored triptychs and narrative compositions reflecting the transition between feudal and modern Japan; on the other hand, Utagawa Toyonobu (1859-1886), linked to the Utagawa school and with a shorter career, maintains a style closer to the classical ukiyo-e of the end of the Edo period, with a predominance of kabuki actors (yakusha-e), theatrical figures with intense gestures, marked lines and flatter backgrounds, showing less influence of westernization and a more traditional aesthetic.