1735–1785
Given name: Kamejirō. Art surname: Torii.
Kiyomitsu, born 1735, became the third titular head of the Torii School. Born in Naniwachō presumably as the second son of Kiyomasu II, Kiyomitsu studied under his father. He married at age 18 and had two children, a boy who died at the age of about 16 and a girl.
His earliest known works are the illustrated books “Kagekiyo from Hyūga Province” (Hyūga Kagekiyo) and “Tale of the Love Tomb” (Koizuka monogatari), dating from 1746. In the late 1750s, he was very active in single sheet actor prints, many of them benizuri-e (two-color-printing) and abuna-e (indecent pictures, capturing partially nude women).
Until the late 1760s, he continued to be the most active and prolific designer of actor prints. His designs appeared as “brocade pictures” (nishiki-e) until the late 1770s and he also produced pillar prints (hashira-e), playbills and illustrations for novels as well as a few warrior prints. Kiyomitsu’s actor prints were published until at least 1781.
Among his many students was Kiyonaga who then succeeded him as head of the Torii School. After Kiyomitsu passed away on the third day of the forth month in 1785 he was buried at Hōjōji, Asakusa.
1761 The actor Ichimura Kamezō I as Kyō no Jirō in the play Edomurasaki kongen Soga, Ichimura Theater, V/1761. Hosoban benizuri-e. Publisher: Yamashiroya. Library of Congress. Mutō 2005, no. 923.
1760s Kumagai Jirō Naozane and Mukan Tayū Atsumori. Ōban benizuri-e. Publisher: Enamiya. Asian Art Museum, National Museums in Berlin.
1760s Young lady making a snowball. Hosoban benizuri-e. Publisher: Maruya Kuzaemon. Library of Congress.
1766 The actors Ichikawa Yaozō II as Matano Gorō and Nakamura Sukegorō I as Mimishirō in an unidentified play. Hosoban benizuri-e. Publisher: Nishimuraya Yohachi. Collection Peter Rieder. Mutō 2005, no. 1095.
1763 The actors Onoe Kikugorō I as Kudō Suketsune and Bandō Aizō as Inubōmaru in the play Fūjibumi sakae Soga, Ichimura Theater, II/1763. Hosoban benizuri-e. Publisher: Urokogataya Magobei. National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden, The Netherlands. Mutō 2005, no. 1016.
1760s The actor Sakata Hangorō II as Kizu Kansuke in an unidentified play. Hosoban benizuri-e. Publisher: Okumuraya. Collection Peter Rieder. Unlisted in Mutō 2005.
Bunchō
Act. c. 1755–90
Family name: Mori. Art name: Ippitsusai.
Not many details are known about Bunchō’s life. He was a book illustrator, painter, and print designer and is believed to have studied painting under the minor Kanō school painter Ishikawa Yukimoto (mid-eighteenth century). His earliest known works are the illustrations to the book Eiga asobi nidai otoko from 1755, written by Hachimonji Jishō II (1738–1815).
Bunchō predominantely designed actor prints in the narrow hosoban format of which the vast majority were produced between 1766 and 1774. These actor portraits are less aggressive and vigorous than portraits by his contemporary Katsukawa Shunshō, who was the foremost designer of actor prints in that time period. Bunchō’s beautiful women like in the two half-length series “Eight Views of the East” (Azuma hakkei) and “Appearance of the Eight Views” (Sugata hakkei), on the other hand, show the influence of Suzuki Harunobu but do not appear as romantic and fragile as Harunobu’s.
Nishimuraya Yohachi was the leading publisher of Bunchō’s prints. His most important work, however, was published by Kariganeya Ihei in 1770. The three-volume “Picture-book of Stage Fans” (Ehon butai ōgi) was produced with Katsukawa Shunshō. In an—until that time—unique compositional format, it shows the leading actors of the day on fans and is therefore considered one of the most important books in Japanese woodblock printing. These yakusha nigao-e (“pictures of likenesses of actors”) challenged the dominance of the Torii School in theatre illustrations. Bunchō captured actors in female roles (onnagata) whereas Shunshō drew the villains.
By 1772, Bunchō stopped designing actor prints and concentrated on pictures of beautiful women, a genre that he had already pursued in 1769. Bunchō’s last known work is a “pictorial calendar” (egoyomi) from 1790. Amongst his few students was Kishi Bunshō (1754–96).
1768 The actor ōtani Hiroji III in an unidentified role in the play Shuen Soga ōmugaeshi, Ichimura Theater, II/1768. Hosoban nishiki-e. Collection Peter Rieder. Hayashi 1981, no. 120.
Bunchō and Harunobu. c.1769-70 Imaginary armor pulling incident. Chūban. Library of Congress. Suzuki 1979, no. 368, and Hayashi 1981, no. 340.
1770 The actors Ichikawa Komazō II as Hanamori Kisaku and Yamashita Kinsaku II as Oume in the play Nue no mori ichiyō no mato, Nakamura Theater, XI/1770. Chūban. National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden, The Netherlands. Hayashi 1981, no. 252.
1770 The actor Sanogawa Ichimatsu II, from the “Picture-book of Stage Fans” (Ehon butai ōgi), vol. 1, p. 26. 16.7 x 25.9 cm (6.6 x 10.2 in.). Publisher: Kariganeya Ihei. Library of Congress.
late 1760s The actor ōtani Hiroji III in an unidentified role. Hosoban nishiki-e. National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden, The Netherlands. Unlisted in Hayashi 1981.
Shunshō
1726–1793
Given names: Yōsuke, Yūsuke (from 1774). Art surname: Katsukawa. Art names on paintings: Jūgasei, Kyokurōsai, Kyokurōsei, Ririn, Rokurokuan, Yūji. Jar-shaped seal with the character “rin” (grove).
Born presumably in 1726, Shunshō initially studied painting under Katsukawa Shunsui (act. c.1744–64) and the Hanabusa school painter Kō Sūkoku (1730–1804). His earliest known prints date from 1764 when he was nearly forty years old. Together with Bunchō he played the central role in the development of realistic portrayal of actors. Most important are their illustrations in the book “A Picture-book of Stage Fans” (Ehon butai ōgi) from 1770. The novel half-length portraits
