, often called simply "Sukenobu", was a Japanese printmaker from

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the c ...

. He was unusual for an

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 of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk ta ...

artist, as he was based in the imperial capital of

. He did prints of actors, but gained note for his works concerning women. His ''Hyakunin joro shinasadame'' (''Appreciating 100 women''), in two volumes published in 1723, depicted women of all classes, from the empress to prostitutes, and received favorable results.

Life and career

Nishikawa Sukenobu was born in Kyoto in 1671 and studied painting there under Kanō Einō of the

Kanō school The is one of the most famous schools of Japanese painting. The Kanō school of painting was the dominant style of painting from the late 15th century until the Meiji period which began in 1868, by which time the school had divided into many ...

of painting; he may also have studied under Tosa Mitsusuke of the

Tosa school of Japanese painting was founded in the early Muromachi period (14th–15th centuries),,p.988 and was devoted to ''yamato-e'', paintings specializing in subject matter and techniques derived from ancient Japanese art, as opposed to schools influe ...

. Sukenobu's earliest known works are book illustrations that date to 1699; the earliest signed in his name is the seven-volume ''Shin Kanninki'' ("New patience story"). While most

artists were based in

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), Sukenobu spent his career in Kyoto. Sukenobu specialized in depictions of female beauties from different classes in their daily lives. He also produced books of

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 ...

patterns, ''

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 ...

'' portraits of warriors, illustrations of classical literature, and paintings. Sukenobu died in Kyoto on 20 August 1750. He was also known under the names Uemon, Jitokusō, Jitokusai, Bunkado, Ukyō, Saiō. The influence of his style of depicting women is seen in the works of such artists as

Suzuki Harunobu Suzuki Harunobu ( ja, 鈴木春信; ) was a Japanese designer of woodblock print art in the style. He was an innovator, the first to produce full-color prints () in 1765, rendering obsolete the former modes of two- and three-color prints. Haru ...

and

Kitao Shigemasa was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist from Edo. He was one of the leading printmakers of his day, but his works have been slightly obscure. He is noted for images of beautiful women ('' bijinga''). He was taught by Shigenaga and has been referred to as ...

Collections

Sukenobu's work is held in the permanent collections of several institutions, including the

Dallas Museum of Art The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is an art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In the 1970s, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the Art ...

, the

Carnegie Museum of Art The Carnegie Museum of Art, is an art museum in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally known as the Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute and was at what is now the Main Branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsbu ...

, the

Indianapolis Museum of Art The Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) is an encyclopedic art museum located at Newfields, a campus that also houses Lilly House, The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park: 100 Acres, the Gardens at Newfields, the Beer Garden, and more. It ...

, the

Harvard Art Museums The Harvard Art Museums are part of Harvard University and comprise three museums: the Fogg Museum (established in 1895), the Busch-Reisinger Museum (established in 1903), and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (established in 1985), and four research ...

, the

University of Michigan Museum of Art The University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor, Michigan with is one of the largest university art museums in the United States. Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university's fallen alumni from the Civil War, Alumni Memorial Hall ori ...

, the

Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Art Museum (commonly known as SAM) is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington, United States. It operates three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM) in Volunteer Park on Cap ...

, the Suntory Museum of Art, the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

References

Works cited

External links

Artnet: Nishikawa SukenobuNishikawa Sukenobu
by Honolulu Museum of Art
The Shunga of Nishikawa Sukenobu
by Honolulu Museum of Art Ukiyo-e artists Nishikawa, Sukenobu Nishikawa, Sukenobu Nishikawa, Sukenobu 17th-century Japanese artists 18th-century Japanese artists {{printmaker-stub