Kaigetsudō Ando (壊月堂安度, ), also known as Ando Yasunori, was a Japanese painter and the founder of the Kaigetsudō school of

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 surfac ...

art. Though influential and prolific, it is probable that many of the works attributed to him were painted by his disciples. He is a rarity among major ukiyo-e artists in that he made only paintings and never

woodblock prints Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. Each page or image is create ...

. Ando lived in the Suwa-chō district of

Asakusa is a district in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. It is known as the location of the Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. There are several other temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals, such as the . History The ...

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

(modern Tokyo) near

Sensō-ji is an ancient Buddhist temple located in Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan. It is Tokyo's oldest temple, and one of its most significant. Formerly associated with the Tendai sect of Buddhism, it became independent after World War II. It is dedicated to Kann ...

temple, and on a major road which led to the

Yoshiwara was a famous (red-light district) in Edo, present-day Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1617, Yoshiwara was one of three licensed and well-known red-light districts created during the early 17th century by the Tokugawa shogunate, alongside Shima ...

north of the city. Principally active from 1700–1714, some scholars have surmised that his early training may have been in '' ema'', wooden votive tablets sold at

Shinto shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The '' honden''Also called (本殿, meani ...

s. A distinctive element of his style is the sense of emptiness around his figures, an element which fits well with the medium of the ''ema''; this theory is supported by the idea of his location on the main road, where a great number of pilgrims and travelers would have passed daily. Some scholars dismiss this theory, but it is nevertheless evident that Ando was closely connected to the trends of popular culture, art, and literature at the time. His style shows influences of the father of ''ukiyo-e'' painting,

Hishikawa Moronobu Hishikawa Moronobu ( ja, 菱川師宣; 1618 – 25 July 1694) was a Japanese artist known for popularizing the ukiyo-e genre of woodblock prints and paintings in the late 17th century. He consolidated the works of scattered Japanese art s ...

, and his disciples, as well as influences from book illustrators such as

Yoshida Hanbei Yoshida Hanbei (吉田半兵衛) was a late seventeenth-century Japanese illustrator in the ''ukiyo-e'' style, the leading illustrator in Kyoto and Osaka around 1664–1689. Unlike many more famous ukiyo-e artists, who worked primarily on i ...

. Ando's particular focus was on the ''

bijinga is a generic term for pictures of beautiful women () in Japanese art, especially in woodblock printing of the ukiyo-e genre. Definition defines as a picture that simply "emphasizes the beauty of women", and the ''Shincho Encyclopedia of W ...

'' (images of beautiful women), and in his time he and his studio nearly monopolized the production of images of the courtesans of the Yoshiwara, Edo's pleasure district. His style is especially distinguished by the elaborate, and often brilliantly colorful, patterns on the courtesan's

kimono The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn left side wrapped over right, unless the wearer is deceased. The kimono ...

. These were truly images of the latest fashions, or perhaps of the artist's own fashion ideas, just as much as they were images of the women. It has also been said that his women had an austerity and aloofness that placed them above pure representations of sexuality, the Edo period equivalent of "

pin-up A pin-up model (known as a pin-up girl for a female and less commonly male pin-up for a male) is a model whose mass-produced pictures see widespread appeal as part of popular culture. Pin-up models were variously glamour models, fashion models ...

s". As the founder of a school, it should come as no surprise that his style was fresh, new and innovative, and quite distinctive. This style would be continued by his direct disciples (some of whom were his sons or other direct relations), often so closely that paintings done by them have come to be misattributed to Ando. Kaigetsudō Ando's career came to an end in 1714, with the so-called "

Ejima-Ikushima affair The {{nihongo, Ejima-Ikushima affair, 江島生島事件, Ejima Ikushima jiken was the most significant scandal in the Ōoku, the Tokugawa shōgun's harem during the Edo period of the history of Japan, that occurred in February 1714. Background Th ...

". It is not entirely clear how he was involved in this scandal which revolved around a high ranking court lady and a

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 ...

actor (who held a very low status in society, along with all actors and entertainers). All those involved were banished from Edo.

References

* Lane, Richard. (1978). ''Images from the Floating World, The Japanese Print.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press.
OCLC 5246796

External links

Bridge of dreams: the Mary Griggs Burke collection of Japanese art
a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Kaigetsudō Ando (see index) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaigetsudo Ando 1670s births 1743 deaths Ando Ukiyo-e artists