Japanese Woodblock Print, originally published in 1831 by the publisher Iseya Rihei; signed: Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga; sealed: toshidame in a square; censor seal: kiwame; the print at auction is c.1920s strike published from recarved wood blocks by Nishinomiya

SIZE IN INCHES: oban, 14.75 x 9.75 inches

THE SOLITARY FIGURE OF NICHIREN, sent into exile by the regent Hojo Tokumune in 1271, fights he way up a snow-covered mountain slope near Tsukahara on Sado Island. Snow falls from a dark sky. This one of Kuniyoshi's best-known prints. "Difficulty at Sado," was very popular in Kuniyoshi's time and today is considered one of the finest landscape prints of the Edo-era by any artist.

KUNIYOSHI UTAGAWA (1797-1861) was born in Edo (present-day Tokyo. He was the son of a silk dyer named Yanagiya Kichiemon and was given the name Yoshisaburo at birth. At the age of 14, he joined the Utagawa School of ukiyo-e artists, then headed by Utagawa Toyokuni I (1769-1825). Toyokuni I gave Yoshisaburo the name Utagawa Kuniyoshi; Kuniyoshi being a combination of the names Toyokuni and Yoshisaburo. In 1814, Kuniyoshi ended his apprenticeship and set out as an independent artist. He initially produced actor prints in the style of his teacher, which gained him little recognition. Kuniyoshi achieved a commercial and artistic breakthrough in 1827 with the first six designs of the series, The 108 Heroes of the Suikoden. The series was bases upon a 14th century Chinese novel about the adventures of a band of 108 honorable bandits and rebels. Like his teacher, Kuniyoshi had many students including Yoshitoshi, Yoshiku, Yoshikazu, Yoshitsuya, Yoshiyuki, Yoshifuji, Yoshifusa, Yoshiharu, Yoshikage, Yoshikata, Yoshikatsu, Yoshimori, Yoshimune, Yoshinao, Yoshinobu, Yoshitoyo, Yoshitsuna, Kyosai (briefly) and his own daughters, Yoshitora and Yoshitori. Kuniyoshi had a special fondness for cats, which overran his studio and are portrayed in many of his prints. Although Kuniyoshi is now universally known as Utagawa Kuniyoshi, he also used the names Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi, Cho-o-ro Kuniyoshi, Igusa Kuniyoshi, Ichi Kuniyoshi and Saihôsa Kuniyoshi. He died from complications of a stroke on April 14, 1861.

VG, no flaws of note