was a Japanese

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 ...

artist from

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 ...

. 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 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 ...

''). He was taught by Shigenaga and has been referred to as "a chameleon" who adopted to changing styles. He was less active after the rise of

Torii Kiyonaga Torii Kiyonaga ( ja, 鳥居清長; 1752 – June 28, 1815) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Torii school. Originally Sekiguchi Shinsuke, the son of an Edo bookseller, from Motozaimokuchō Itchōme in Edo, he took on Torii Kiyonaga as a ...

and produced relatively few works considering the length of his career. He is also noted for his

haikai ''Haikai'' (Japanese 俳諧 ''comic, unorthodox'') may refer in both Japanese and English to ''haikai no renga'' (renku), a popular genre of Japanese linked verse, which developed in the sixteenth century out of the earlier aristocratic renga. I ...

(poetry) and shodō (

Japanese calligraphy also called is a form of calligraphy, or artistic writing, of the Japanese language. Written Japanese was originally based on Chinese characters only, but the advent of the hiragana and katakana Japanese syllabaries resulted in intrin ...

). In his later years he used the studio name Kosuisai.Collection of auction catalogs on Japanese art, Volume 30 by Arthur Baldwin Duel, pgs 20–22
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Life and career

Shigemasa was born the eldest son of bookseller Suharaya Mohei in 1739 in Nihonbashi area

(modern Tokyo). His family name was Kitabatake and his childhood name was Tarōkichi. Throughout his life he also used the personal names Kyūgorō and Sasuke. His work also appeared under the art names Hokuhō, Kōsuisai, Kōsuiken, Suihō Itsujin, and others, and he used the poetry name Karan. Shigemasa taught himself art before becoming a student of

Nishimura Shigenaga Nishimura Shigenaga ( ja, 西村重長; – 23 July 1756) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist. Shigenaga was born in Edo (modern Tokyo). He worked as a landlord in Tōriabura-chō before moving to the Kanda district, where he ran a bookshop ...

. His early works are ''

bijin-ga 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 in the style of Suzuki Harunobu. From 1765 he began illustrating books, which became is main focus; over 250 are known. His work was published by more than twenty publishers, including

Tsutaya Jūzaburō Tsutaya Jūzaburō ( ja, 蔦屋重三郎; 13 February 1750 – 31 May 1797) was the founder and head of the Tsutaya publishing house in Edo, Japan, and produced illustrated books and ukiyo-e woodblock prints of many of the perio ...

. A number of Shigemasa's better-known works were collaborations with Katsukawa Shunshō: the print series ''Silkworm Cultivation'' (''Kaiko yashinai gusa'') beginning about 1772 and the illustrated book ''Mirror of Competing Beauties of the Green Houses'' (''Seirō bijin awase sugata kagami'') from about 1776. Shigemasa founded the Kitao lineage of artists. Amongst his students were

Kubo Shunman Kubo Shunman ( ja, 窪俊満; – 26 October 1820) was a Japanese artist and writer. He produced ukiyo-e prints and paintings, ''gesaku'' novels, and ''kyōka'' and haiku poetry. Life and career Shunman was born in about 1757 (Hōre ...

and

Santō Kyōden Santō Kyōden (山東京伝, 13 September 1761 Edo – 27 October 1816) was a Japanese artist, writer, and the owner of a tobacco shop during the Edo period. His real name was Iwase Samuru (岩瀬醒), and he was also known popularly as Kyō ...

. Shigemasa died in his 82nd year on the 24th day of the first month of 1820.

Gallery

Kitao Shigemasa (1777) Geisha and a servant carrying her shamisen box.jpg Kitao Shigemasa (att.). Three Children Playing in Snow.jpg SHIGEMASA, KITAO (1739-1820).jpg Trois lievres raisin Kitao.jpg, Rabbits eating grapes

References

Works cited

External links

Heian Period Tale of the Nightingale in the Plum Tree
by Kitao Shigemasa 1739 births 1820 deaths Ukiyo-e artists {{printmaker-stub