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Katsukawa Shun'ei
Katsukawa Shun'ei ( ja, 勝川 春英; 1762 – 13 December 1819) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist. Shun'ei's real surname was Isoda (), and his father was a landlord named Isoda Jirōbei (). Shun'ei belonged to the Katsukawa school of artists; his earliest work dates to 1778. He designed mainly ''yakusha-e'' portraits of kabuki actors, and began producing ''ōkubi-e'' bust portraits as early as 1791. Together with Toyokuni I he illustrated the five-volume kabuki guide called ''Shibai kinmō zue'' ("Illustrated Guide to the Theatre") by Shikitei Sanba. He also made ''musha-e'' warrior prints and prints of sumo wrestlers. In he took over as head from his teacher, Shunshō. His most prominent students were and Katsukawa Shunsen. Shun'ei and several other artists, including Utamaro and Toyokuni, were jailed and manacled for 50 days in 1804 for producing prints depicting Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ukiyo-e
Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ... of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk tales; travel scenes and landscapes; Flora of Japan, flora and Wildlife of Japan#Fauna, fauna; and Shunga, erotica. The term translates as "picture[s] of the floating world". In 1603, the city of Edo (Tokyo) became the seat of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate. The ''chōnin'' class (merchants, craftsmen and workers), positioned at the bottom of Four occupations, the social order, benefited the most from the city's rapid economic growth, and began to indulge in and patronise the entertainment o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Katsukawa School
The Katsukawa school (勝川派, ''-ha'') was a school of Japanese ''ukiyo-e'' art, founded by Miyagawa Shunsui. It specialized in paintings (''nikuhitsu-ga'') and prints of kabuki actors (''yakusha-e''), sumo wrestlers, and beautiful women (''bijin-ga''). The painter Miyagawa Shunsui changed his surname to Katsukawa. One of his students, Katsukawa Shunshō, took his surname and abandoned the school's tradition of painting well-dressed beauties in favour of ''yakusha-e'' portraits of kabuki actors, a domain once dominated by the Torii school. This new focus revived the actor print, which had lost popularity after Suzuki Harunobu's portraits of beauties rose to prominence in the late 1760s. Shunshō introduced the ''ōkubi-e'' "large-headed picture" in the 1760s. He and other members of the Katsukawa school, such as Shunkō, popularized ''ōkubi yakusha-e'' prints and the dusting of mica in the backgrounds to produce a luxurious glittering effect. Shunsui was the son and stu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yakusha-e
''Yakusha-e'' (役者絵), often referred to as "actor prints" in English, are Japanese woodblock prints or, rarely, paintings, of kabuki actors, particularly those done in the ''ukiyo-e'' style popular through the Edo period (1603–1867) and into the beginnings of the 20th century. Most strictly, the term ''yakusha-e'' refers solely to portraits of individual artists (or sometimes pairs, as seen in this work by Sharaku). However, prints of kabuki scenes and of other elements of the world of the theater are very closely related, and were more often than not produced and sold alongside portraits. ''Ukiyo-e'' images were almost exclusively images of urban life; the vast majority that were not landscapes were devoted to depicting courtesans, sumo, or kabuki. Realistic detail, inscriptions, the availability of playbills from the period, and a number of other resources have allowed many prints to be analyzed and identified in great detail. Scholars have been able to identify the subj ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kabuki
is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought to have originated in the very early Edo period, when founder Izumo no Okuni formed a female dance troupe who performed dances and light sketches in Kyoto. The art form later developed into its present all-male theatrical form after women were banned from performing in kabuki theatre in 1629. Kabuki developed throughout the late 17th century and reached its zenith in the mid-18th century. In 2005, kabuki theatre was proclaimed by UNESCO as an intangible heritage possessing outstanding universal value. In 2008, it was inscribed in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists, UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Etymology The individual kanji that make up the word ''kabuki'' can be read as , , and . ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ōkubi-e
An is a Japanese portrait print or painting in the ukiyo-e genre showing only the head or the head and upper torso. Katsukawa Shunkō I (1743–1812) is generally credited with producing the first ōkubi-e. He, along with Katsukawa Shunshō, designed ōkubi-e of male kabuki actors. In the early-1790s, Utamaro designed the first ōkubi-e of beautiful women (''bijin-ga ōkubi-e''). The shogunate authorities banned ōkubi-e in 1800, but the ban was lifted after eight years. Gallery Large head portrait (okubi-e) of kabuki actor Matsumoto Kôshirô IV as Tsurunosuke by Katsukawa Shunko I.JPG, Ōkubi-e of kabuki actor Matsumoto Kōshirō IV as Tsurunosuke, a woodblock print by Katsukawa Shunkō I Kunimasa - taikan, The actor Ichikawa Ebizo in a shibaraku role, 1796.jpg, Woodblock print by Utagawa Kunimasa of kabuki actor Ichikawa Ebizō in a shibaraku role, 1796 Toshusai Sharaku- Otani Oniji, 1794.jpg, Nakazō Nakamura II as Edobee, woodblock print by Sharaku, 1794 Ase o fuku ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Utagawa Toyokuni
Utagawa Toyokuni ( ja, 歌川豊国; 1769 in Edo – 24 February 1825 in Edo), also often referred to as Toyokuni I, to distinguish him from the members of his school who took over his ''gō'' (art-name) after he died, was a great master of ukiyo-e, known in particular for his kabuki actor prints. He was the second head of the renowned Utagawa school of Japanese woodblock artists, and was the artist who elevated it to the position of great fame and power it occupied for the rest of the nineteenth century. Biography He was born in Edo, the son of Kurahashi Gorobei, a carver of dolls and puppets, including replicas of kabuki actors. At around 14, Toyokuni was apprenticed to the first head of the Utagawa house, Utagawa Toyoharu, whom his father knew well and who lived nearby. One of his fellow pupils under Toyoharu was Toyohiro, whose pupil was the great landscape artist Hiroshige. In recognition of his artistic ability, Toyokuni later took the name Utagawa Toyokuni, fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Musha-e
Musha-e () is a type a Japanese art that was developed in the late 18th century. It is a genre of the ukiyo-e woodblock printing technique, and represents images of warriors and samurai from Japanese history and mythology. History Edo Period The earliest examples of musha-e were created in the late 18th century as illustrations for classical stories of Japanese literature. During that period, artists like Masanobu Okumura were prominent. As the ukiyo-e technique thrived during the 19th century, musha-e became more popular. Kuniyoshi, a famous printmaker, specialized in warrior images and produced a series of prints known as the ''108 Heroes of the Suikoden''. During the late Edo period, censorship laws passed by the Tokugawa Shogunate made the creation of musha-e more difficult. Artists and publishers therefore often changed the names of characters or events depicted. Artists from the Utagawa School such as Kunisada or Hiroshige produced many musha-e prints. Meiji Period a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sumo
is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by throwing, shoving or pushing him down). Sumo originated in Japan, the only country where it is practiced professionally and where it is considered the national sport. It is considered a ''gendai budō'', which refers to modern Japanese martial arts, but the sport has a history spanning many centuries. Many ancient traditions have been preserved in sumo, and even today the sport includes many ritual elements, such as the use of salt purification, from Shinto. Life as a wrestler is highly regimented, with rules regulated by the Japan Sumo Association. Most sumo wrestlers are required to live in communal sumo training stables, known in Japanese as ''heya'', where all aspects of their daily lives—from meals to their manner of dress—are dic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Katsukawa Shunshō
Shunshō Katsukawa ( ja, 勝川 春章; 1726 – 19 January 1793) was a Japanese painter and printmaker in the ''ukiyo-e'' style, and the leading artist of the Katsukawa school. Shunshō studied under Miyagawa Shunsui, son and student of Miyagawa Chōshun, both equally famous and talented ukiyo-e artists. Shunshō is most well known for introducing a new form of ''yakusha-e'', prints depicting Kabuki actors. However, his ''bijin-ga'' (images of beautiful women) paintings, while less famous, are said by some scholars to be "the best in the second half of the 8th/nowiki> century".Paine, Robert Treat and Alexander Soper (1955). ''The Art and Architecture of Japan''. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 263. Biography Shunshō first came to Edo to study haiku and painting. He became a noted printmaker of actors with his first works dating from 1760. Though originally a member of the Torii school, he soon broke away and began his own style, which would later be dubbed the Ka ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Katsukawa Shunsen
, who is also known as Shunkō II, was a designer of books and ukiyo-e style Japanese woodblock prints. He was born in 1762 and designed prints from about 1805 to about 1821. He initially studied with the Rimpa school artist Tsutsumi Tōrin III. In 1806 or 1807, Shunsen became a student of Katsukawa Shun'ei, and changed his name from “Kojimachi Shunsen” to “Katsukawa Shunsen”. In 1820 he succeeded Katsukawa Shunkō I, becoming Katsukawa Shunkō II. In the late 1820s, he ceased producing woodblock prints and devoted himself to painting ceramics. He died about 1830. Shunsen is best known for his genre scenes, landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of Terrestrial ecoregion, land, its landforms, and how they integrate with Nature, natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionar ..., and prints of beautiful women. Gallery File:Shunsen - (h) carp fishing.jpg, Untitled woodblock pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Utamaro
Kitagawa Utamaro ( ja, 喜多川 歌麿; – 31 October 1806) was a Japanese artist. He is one of the most highly regarded designers of ukiyo-e woodblock prints and paintings, and is best known for his ''bijin ōkubi-e'' "large-headed pictures of beautiful women" of the 1790s. He also produced nature studies, particularly illustrated books of insects. Little is known of Utamaro's life. His work began to appear in the 1770s, and he rose to prominence in the early 1790s with his portraits of beauties with exaggerated, elongated features. He produced over 2000 known prints and was one of the few ukiyo-e artists to achieve fame throughout Japan in his lifetime. In 1804 he was arrested and manacled for fifty days for making illegal prints depicting the 16th-century military ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and died two years later. Utamaro's work reached Europe in the mid-nineteenth century, where it was very popular, enjoying particular acclaim in France. He influenced the Eu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
, otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Course of History, Viking Press 1988. p. 68. Hideyoshi rose from a peasant background as a Affinity (medieval), retainer of the prominent lord Oda Nobunaga to become one of the most powerful men in Japan. Hideyoshi succeeded Nobunaga after the Honnō-ji Incident in 1582 and continued Nobunaga's campaign to unite Japan that led to the closing of the Sengoku period. Hideyoshi became the ''de facto'' leader of Japan and acquired the prestigious positions of Daijō-daijin, Chancellor of the Realm and Sesshō and Kampaku, Imperial Regent by the mid-1580s. Hideyoshi launched the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598), Japanese invasions of Korea in 1592 to initial success, but eventual military stalemate damaged his prestige before his death in 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
