Katsukawa Shun'ei (; 1762 – 13 December 1819) was a Japanese
ukiyo-e
is a genre of Japanese art that flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock printing, woodblock prints and Nikuhitsu-ga, paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes ...
artist.
Shun'ei's real surname was Isoda (), and his father was a landlord named Isoda Jirōbei ().
Shun'ei belonged to the
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 (''bij ...
of artists; his earliest work dates to 1778. He designed mainly ''
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 i ...
'' portraits of
kabuki
is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes ...
actors, and began producing ''
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, ...
'' 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
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 th ...
wrestlers. In he took over as head from his teacher,
Shunshō. His most prominent students were and
Katsukawa Shunsen
, who is also known as Shunkō II, was a designer of books and ukiyo-e style woodblock printing in Japan, Japanese woodblock prints. He was born in 1762 and designed prints from about 1805 to about 1821. He initially studied with the Rimpa scho ...
. Shun'ei and several other artists, including
Utamaro
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-ga, bijin ōkubi-e'' "large-headed pictures of beautiful women" of the 1790s. He also produ ...
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 lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...
based on the ''Ehon taikōki'' ("Illustrated Chronicles of the Regent").
Acteursportret van Sawamura Sojuro III in de rol van Kakogawa Honzo-Rijksmuseum RP-P-1956-798.jpeg
Bust Portrait of Three Actors Ichikawa Komazo II, Sakata Hangoro III, Nakayama Fukasaburo I LACMA 54.50.3.jpg
Onogawa Kisaburo.jpg
The Warrior Atsumori on Horseback by Katsukawa Shun'ei, Japan, 1791, color woodblock - Chazen Museum of Art - DSC01732.JPG
Segawa Kikunojo III in a Female Role LACMA M.40.1.164.jpg
References
Works cited
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18th-century Japanese artists
19th-century Japanese artists
Katsukawa school
Ukiyo-e artists
{{Japan-artist-stub