actors Sawamura Sōjūrō I as Fuwa Banzaemon and Anegawa Chiyosa I as Katsuragi in an unidentified play. Hosoban urushi-e. Publisher: Izutsuya Chūzaemon. National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden, The Netherlands. Mutō 2005, no. 130.
1742 The actor Nakamura Tomijūrō I in a double role in an unidentified play. Hosoban urushi-e. Publisher: Murataya Jirōbei. Asian Art Museum, National Museums in Berlin. Mutō 2005, no. 188.
1739 The actors Segawa Kikujirō I as Okiku and Sawamura Sōjūrō I as Sano Genzaemon in the play Miyakozome kaoru hachinoki, Nakamura Theater, XI/1739. Hosoban urushi-e. Publisher: Nakajimaya Izaemon. Asian Art Museum, National Museums in Berlin. Mutō 2005, no. 167.
1746 The actors Ichimura Kamezō I as Raigō Ajiyari and Arashi Tominosuke I as Kumoi-nomae in the play Chigo zakura futaba jikki, Ichimura Theater, VII/1746. Hosoban benizuri-e. Publisher: Nakajimaya Izaemon. Asian Art Museum, National Museums in Berlin. Mutō 2005, no. 247.
Masanobu
1686–1764
Given name: Genpachi. Art surname: Okumura. Art names: Baiō and Shinmyō (from 1707), Hōgetsudō (from the late 1730s), Bunkaku and Tanchōsai (from the 1740s).
Masanobu was a painter, print artist, and illustrator as well as a pioneering book publisher and author. He was a leading figure in the early period of woodblock printing and established his own school. Born in 1686, he studied poetry under Tachiba Fukaku (1662–1753) but was largely self-taught as a painter, showing influences by Hishikawa Moronobu (died 1694) and Kiyonobu. Masanobu is seen as the originator of the “pillar prints” (hashira-e) and also of prints that make use of a European perspective (uki-e). Furthermore, he is one of the first who published benizuri-e (two-color-printing).
Masanobu covered a wide range of motives including prints
of beauties, actors, flowers and birds, warriors, and erotica. His earliest known work is a 1701 published copy of Kiyonobu’s “Illustrated Book of Courtesans” (Keisei ehon) from 1700. By 1711, he had illustrated twenty-five books. In these early years he frequently used an elaborate signature calling himself “Yamato picture master” (Yamato eshi). In the late 1710s he started with the Okumuraya (firm name Kakujudō), his own book- and printshop located in Nihonbashi’s Tōrishiochō, which allowed him to experiment with new formats and techniques. Especially since 1724 he published many of his own prints. He developed a gourd-shaped (hyōtan) publisher seal as his trademark and praised his works by explicitly mentioning their quality and originality on the prints themselves.
Masanobu died in 1764, aged 79.
1743 “Perspective picture of a real play on stage” (Shibai kyōgen uki-e nemoto). 45 x 31.5 cm (17.7 x 12.4 in.). Publisher: Okumuraya. Asian Art Museum, National Museums in Berlin.
1730s “Set of Three, center—Moon of Musashi” (Musashi no tsuki, sanpukutsui—naka). Hosoban beni-e. Publisher: Okumuraya. Asian Art Museum, National Museums in Berlin.
c.1725 The actor Sanjō Kantarō II as s singer of popular songs in the Yoshiwara. Hosoban urushi-e. Publisher: Okumuraya. Asian Art Museum, National Museums in Berlin. Unlisted in Mutō 2005.
c.1720s/30s Two dancers playing shamisens entertaining a young man drinking sake. Hosoban urushi-e. Publisher: Okumuraya. Library of Congress.
Masanobu (attr.). c.1720s/30s An amorous advance. Hand-colored album leaf. Collection Peter Rieder.
Toshinobu
Act. c. 1718–49
Art surname: Okumura. Art names: Kakugetsudō, Bunzen.
Not many details are known about the life of Okumura Toshinobu. He was a pupil of Okumura Masanobu whose influence can be seen in Toshinobu’s designs. Apart from Masanobu’s own publishing house, the Okumuraya, Toshinobu worked for at least ten other publishers and became a prolific designer of beni-e (pink, hand colored pictures) and urushi-e (lacquer pictures). The beni-e series “Pastimes of the Four Seasons” (Shiki no asobi) that Toshinobu designed for the publisher ōmiya Kuhei dates from the 1730s. Many designs in horizontal format depict a scene either enclosed in a fan or in a stylized bean.
Toshinobu’s period of activity can only be roughly determined. His earliest designs date from 1718 and his last known work is a benizuri-e (two-color-printing) from 1742 showing the actor Sanogawa Mangiku (1690–1747) followed by the illustrations in the book “Getting Rid of Smallpox” (Hōsō-yoke) from 1749. Toshinobu specialized in pictures of beauties and actor prints in particular, concentrating on the soft acting style (wagoto) and love scenes.
c.1730 No. 1—Spring, from the series “Pleasures of the Four Seasons” (Shiki no asobi). Hosoban urushi-e. Publisher: ōmiya Kuhei. Collection Peter Rieder.
1724. The actors Ichimura Takenojō IV as Soga Gorō and Sakata Hangorō I as Kudō Suketsune in the play Yome iri Izu nikki, Ichimura Theater, I/1724. Hosoban urushi-e. Publisher: Izutsuya San’emon. National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden, The Netherlands. Mutō 2005, no. 1922.
1727 The actors Ogino Izaburō I as Sōshiya, Hayakawa Hatsuse I as Taishi, and Arashi Wakano I as Gyokuyō Fujin in an unidentified play. Hosoban urushi-e. Publisher: Iseya Kinbei. Asian Art Museum, National Museums in Berlin. Mutō 2005, no. 1950.
c.1720s/30s Three beauties from Kyoto (top), Edo (right), and Osaka (left). Hosoban beni-e. Publisher: Masuya. Collection Peter Rieder.
Shigenaga
1697?–1756
Art surname: Nishimura. Art names: Eikadō (until c.1730s), Senkadō (from c.1730s), Hyakuju.
Nishimura Shigenaga was born in Edo around 1697. He first lived in Tōriabura-chō but later moved to the Kanda district where he opened a bookshop. He was self-taught and not the student of a lineage of artists. His earliest work seems to have appeared in 1719 and he became a rival to the
