Japanese Woodblock Prints. Andreas Marks
48 years old, he was honored with the Buddhist title hokkyō (lit. bridge of the law), a priestly title for artists paying tribute to their achievements. To receive this title, he had to submit a request and it seems that his good personal connections as well as his many successful flower and bird (kachō-e) designs of which roughly 170 are known, were the decisive factors for his successful bid. Koryūsai, being proud to have received this title, from now on added a reference to it to his signature. However, it seems that he significantly reduced his output after 1782 as only a small number of his prints and paintings bear this addition. Amongst them is a picture of the Six Saints of Poetry (rokkasen), copied after the painter Tosa Mitsushige (1496–1559).
Koryūsai is considered as one of the great masters of “pillar prints” (hashira-e), which became popular as decoration for Japanese homes. Over 350 designs covering various subjects were published. Koryūsai produced also an unknown number of erotica, a subject that was probably close to him because he was the leading designer of beauty prints, after the death of Harunobu in 1770. His last known print, a depiction of the famous, deified Chinese general Kan U (Chin. Guan Yu), was published by Nishimuraya Yohachi around 1790.
c.1771 Young couple and small boy feeding carp on the Drum Bridge at Kameido. Hashira-e. Library of Congress. Pins 1982, fig. 449, and Hockley 2003, appendix III, E.6.
c.1780 The courtesan Toyoharu of the Chōjiya and her two attendants Tasoya and Takino, from the series “Models for Fashion—New Designs as Fresh Young Leaves” (Hinagata wakana no hatsumoyō). ōban. Publisher: Nishimuraya Yohachi. Asian Art Museum, National Museums in Berlin. Hockley 2003, appendix II, E.110.
c.1770–72 “Clearing mist at Ichigaya” (Ichigaya no seiran), from the series “Eight Views of Edo’s Red-light Districts” (Edo irozato hakkei). Chūban. National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden, The Netherlands. Hockley 2003, appendix I, F.5-2.
mid 1780s Six Saints of Poetry (rokkasen), copied after the painter Tosa Mitsushige. Chūban. National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden, The Netherlands. Hockley 2003, appendix IV, J.7.
c.1770s Woman asleep at her desk dreams of a girl walking with a pilgrim. Chūban. Collection Peter Rieder. Hockley 2003, appendix IV, C.50.
c.1773–75 “Sixth Month” (Minazuki), from the series “Twelve Months in the Pleasure Quarters” (Enrō jūnikagetsu). Chūban. Collection Peter Rieder. Series listed in Hockley 2003, appendix I, G.9, however, not this design.
c.1776–81 The courtesan Morokoshi of the Echizenya, from the series “Parodies of the Thirty-six Saints of Poetry in the Northern Quarter” (Hokurō yatsushi sanjūrokkasen). Chūban. Collection Peter Rieder. Series listed in Hockley 2003, appendix I, O.2, however, not this design.
Shunkō
1743–1812
Family name: Kiyokawa. Given name: Denjirō. Art surname: Katsukawa. Art names: Sahitsusai (from 1791); Sahitsuan. Small jar-shaped seal with the character “ki” (wood).
Shunkō lived in Nihonbashi Hasegawachō. He is believed to have been Shunshō’s earliest student. His first works seems to be illustrations to the book “Talks about Debut Plays” (Kaomise shibai banashi), dated to 1766. Around 1771 he started to design actor prints and soon acquired the nickname “Small Jar” (Kotsubo) because he used a small jar seal on his prints with the character “ki” as signature, following his teacher’s large jar seal with inscribed “rin.”
Like his teacher Shunshō, Shunkō concentrated on actor prints and developed a distinctive style. The majority of his prints were in the narrow hosoban format. In 1780, he experimented with close-up portraits of actors in aiban format and two such prints were produced. But it was not until 1788 when he designed the first bust portraits in the ōban format, forerunners for the renowned designs by Sharaku and others in the 1790s.
Shunkō created also a number of sumo wrestler pictures, a motif that suited his powerful drawing style. In the late 1780s he suffered a stroke and was no longer able to use his right arm. He ceased designing prints but continued to paint. He passed away in 1812, aged 70. He is buried at the Zenshōji in Asakusa and his posthumous Buddhist name is Shaku Shunkō Shinji.
early 1780s The actors Ichikawa Danjūrō V (right) and Nakamura Rikō I (left) in unidentified roles. Hosoban nishiki-e diptych. Collection Peter Rieder.
1787 The actor Sawamura Sōjūrō III as Oda Izuminosuke in the play Keisei Ide no yamabuki, Nakamura Theater, IV/1787. Hosoban nishiki-e. Collection Arendie and Henk Herwig.
1788 The wrestlers Itsukushima, Koshinoto and Takinoue at the Sumo Spring Tournament in IV/1788. ōban. Publisher: Toyoshimaya Bunjiemon. Collection Peter Rieder.
c.1780s The actor Bandō Mitsugorō II in an unidentified dance role. Hosoban nishiki-e. Asian Art Museum, National Museums in Berlin.
1794 The actor Onoe Matsusuke I as Ashikaga Takauji in the play Matsu wa misao onna kusunoki, Kawarazaki Theater, XI/1794. Hosoban nishiki-e. Library of Congress.
Shigemasa
1739–1820
Family name: Kitabatake. Childhood name: Tarōkichi. Given name: Kyūgorō, Sasuke. Art surname: Kitao. Art names: Hokuhō, Kōsuisai, Kōsuiken, Suihō Itsujin, et al. Poet name: Karan.
Kitao Shigemasa was born in 1739 as the eldest son of the bookseller and publisher Suharaya Mohei of Nihonbashi. He was originally self-taught and only later became a student of the print artist Nishimura Shigenaga. He specialized in beautiful women, at first strongly influenced by Harunobu, but his main area of activity was illustrating books, starting in 1765. Over 250 are known by him, several of them wiTherotic content. Shigemasa made himself also known as a poet and painter. He worked for over 20 publishers, foremost Tsutaya Jūzaburō. Among his most famous works is the chūban series “Silkworm Cultivation” (Kaiko yashinai gusa), produced from about 1772 in collaboration with Shunshō. Another collaborative project with Shunshō is the illustrations to the book “Mirror of Competing Beauties of the Green Houses” (Seirō bijin awase sugata kagami) from 1776.
Shigemasa had several students and was the founder of the Kitao School. His students included Kubo Shunman (1757–1820) and Kitao Masanobu (Santō Kyōden, 1761–1816). Shigemasa passed away on the 24th day of the first month 1820, aged 82.
early 1770s Tale of ōeyama. Hashira-e. Publisher: Urokogataya Magobei. Library of Congress. Unlisted in Pins 1982.