Katsukawa Shunkō I (; 1743 – 1 December 1812) was a Japanese artist who designed

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 ...

-style woodblock prints and paintings in

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

(modern Tokyo). He was a student of

Katsukawa Shunshō Shunshō Katsukawa (; 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, bo ...

, and is generally credited with designing the first large-head actor portraits (

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, ...

). As his teacher did, Shunkō used a jar-shaped seal and was known as ("little jar"). At 45, the right-handed Shunkō became partially paralyzed and ceased designing prints, although he continued producing paintings with his left hand.

Life and career

Shunkō lived in Nihonbashi Hasegawachō in

(modern Tokyo) and was a student of

—possibly the master's first. His earliest known work are the illustrations to the book ''Talks about Debut Plays'' (''Kaomise shibai banashi'', 1766). From about 1771, he began to design '' yakusha-e'' actor prints, which he signed with a small jar-shaped seal that appeared next to a larger one by his master; from this he earned the nickname ''Kotsubo'' ("small jar"). During the 1770s and 1780s, most of Shunkō's prints appeared in the tall, narrow '' hosoban'' format. In 1788 he began to produce bust portraits of actors, a style that was to become popular in the 1790s and has come to be associated with the works of

Sharaku was a Japanese ukiyo-e print designer, known for his portraits of kabuki actors. Neither his true name nor the dates of his birth or death are known. His active career as a woodblock artist spanned ten months; his prolific work met disapprova ...

. Other subjects Shunkō depicted include sumo wrestlers. Shunkō suffered a stroke at the close of the 1780s that deprived him of the use of his right arm. He gave up designing prints and devoted himself to painting. He died in 1812 at age 70 and was buried at Zenshōji temple in Asakusa. His Buddhist

posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary Personal name, name given mainly to revered dead people in East Asian cultural sphere, East Asian culture. It is predominantly used in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. ...

is Shaku Shunkō Shinji.

Gallery

Large head portrait (okubi-e) of kabuki actor Matsumoto Kôshirô IV as Tsurunosuke by Katsukawa Shunko I.JPG, Matsumoto Kōshirō IV as Tsurunosuke Busteportret van de acteur Ichikawa Monnosuke II in de rol van Soga no Goro.-Rijksmuseum RP-P-1969-5.jpeg, Ichikawa Monnosuke II 二代目市川門之助-Kabuki Actor Ichikawa Monnosuke II as Shinozuka in a Shibaraku (Stop Right There!) Scene MET DP132740.jpg, Ichikawa Monnosuke II in ''

Shibaraku is a play in the Kabuki repertoire, and one of the celebrated '' Kabuki Jūhachiban'' ("Eighteen Great Plays"). The play is noted for its flamboyantly dramatic costumes and makeup (''kumadori'').{{citation needed, date=May 2017 Originally stag ...

'' The Actor Sawamura Sojuro III LACMA M.71.100.102.jpg, Sawamura Sojuro III Acteur Otani Hiroji III als sterke man-Rijksmuseum RP-P-1962-127.jpeg, Otani Hiroji III Brooklyn Museum - Teahouse at Sankoin Temple Yotsuya (Yotsuya Sankoin Keidai Cha-ya no Uchi) - Katsukawa Shunko.jpg, ''Teahouse at Sankoin Temple Yotsuya'' Brooklyn Museum - The Actor Iwai Hanshiro IV as Ohatsu - Katsukawa Shunko.jpg, Iwai Hanshiro IV as Ohatsu

Other ukiyo-e artists called "Shunkō"

Several other artists are known in English as "Shunkō", although their names are not all written with the same

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

. These other Shunkōs are: * Katsukawa Shunkō II (, active 1805–21), better known as

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 ...

* Shunkō III (, active 1824–37), better known as

Shunbaisai Hokuei Shunbaisai Hokuei (; d. 1837), also known as Shunkō III, was a designer of ukiyo-e style woodblock printing in Japan, Japanese woodblock prints in Osaka, and was active from about 1824 to 1837. He was a student of Shunkōsai Hokushū. H ...

* Shunkō IV (, active 1802–32), better known as Shunkōsai Hokushū

References

Works cited

* Keyes, Roger S. & Keiko Mizushima, ''The Theatrical World of Osaka Prints'', Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1973, 275. * Lane, Richard. (1978). ''Images from the Floating World, The Japanese Print.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press.
OCLC 5246796
* Newland, Amy Reigle. (2005). ''Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints.'' Amsterdam: Hotei.
OCLC 61666175
* Roberts, Laurance P. (1976). ''A Dictionary of Japanese Artists.'' New York: Weatherhill.
OCLC 2005932
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Katsukawa, Shunko 01 1743 births 1812 deaths Katsukawa school Ukiyo-e artists

Life and career

Gallery

Other ukiyo-e artists called "Shunkō"

See also

References

Works cited