The rootless woodblock prints of Kuniyoshi

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All creatures great and small: "Pale Moon, Cats in Season"

There have been several exhibitions of the 19th-century ukiyo-e (woodblock print) artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi in recent years. In 2009, there was "Woodblock Prints of Eccentricity and Laughter" at the Fuchu Art Museum and last year we had "Utagawa Kuniyoshi: Unparalleled Ukiyo-e Artist" at the Ota Memorial Museum. Both shows were quite comprehensive and treated Kuniyoshi with all the respect accorded a major artist — as he is now considered to be.


"Asahina Playing in the Island of Dwarfs"

This year, we have the grandly titled "Kuniyoshi: Spectacular Ukiyo-e Imagination." With 420 works, it claims to be the biggest exhibition of the artist's works yet, and seems designed to elevate him to a level equal to the likes of Katsushika Hokusai.

But, while the show is ostensibly impressive and awe-inspiring, it does little to develop our understanding of the artist, falling back on the uninspiring narrative of a polymorphously creative individual in overdrive.

The breathless buzzwords in the title give it away. These are echoed by the exhibition's publicity, presentation, and catalogue, which show a tendency to gush over its subject in prose that reveals hard-sell intent more than curatorial insight.