Hishikawa moronobu biography examples

About a quarter of his works were of an erotic nature. Very few of Hishikawa's single-sheet prints have survived, and most, if not all, are unsigned. He produced a total of only 12 hand scrolls, but each of these was later adapted to multiple production in the form of monochrome woodblock prints. Hishikawa's pupils of a somewhat later generation experimented with large monochrome prints based on what were originally hand-painted bijinga pictures of beautiful women produced as hanging scrolls.

Hishikawa was not the "founder" of ukiyo-e as some early scholars surmised.

Hishikawa moronobu biography examples

Instead, with Hishikawa we find an impressive assimilation of inchoate ukiyo-e designs by previous artists, a consolidation of genre and early ukiyo-e painting and prints. It was Hishikawa who created the first truly mature form of ukiyo-e in a style of great strength and presence that would set the standards for generations of artists who followed.

Hishikawa's mastery of line has often been cited in assessments of his work, as well as his harmonious and interactive arrangements of figures, who seem to serve a dramatic function not usually seen in the work of his predecessors. The design shown here belongs to an unsigned and untitled set of twelve shunga explicit erotica or "spring pictures," which in Hishikawa's day were actually called makura-e , or "pillow pictures" dating to the late s or early s.

Some of Hishikawa's prints are found with hand coloring, but this specimen is a sumi-e print with black pigment only in its original, uncolored state. There is something almost elemental in Hishikawa's line work and figure placements in black and white, which most often was diminished into more decorative effects when colors were applied by hand.

The black and gray lines and solid areas contrast boldly with the white paper to produce a range of tonal values, with emphasis on the shape and movement of the lines and the "positive" values of the white spaces. As in many other designs by Hishikawa, the artist was inventive in his use of curvilinear forms juxtaposed against straight diagonals.

Groupings of twelve images had been common for centuries in court and genre paintings. Among the more famous surviving early specimens were the painted single sheets by the master Tosa Mitsunobu Thus, Hishikawa's adoption of a grouping of twelve was quite conventional, particularly as such an arrangement afforded a context in which to alter the furnishings, clothing, and design patterns, matched more or less to the months of the year.

The Kabuki stage, dressing rooms, and audience seating are vividly depicted. It vividly depicts the life and customs of Edo, including people visiting Senso-ji Temple in the fall and people viewing cherry blossoms at Kan-eiji Temple in Ueno in the spring. Ukiyo-e by Hishikawa Moronobu, which had transformed from picture books to single pictures for viewing, were printed in black ink with rare coloring.

Ukiyo-e woodblock prints, which could be printed in large quantities, were inexpensive and easily accessible to the general public, and helped develop the Ukiyo-e culture in Edo. Hishikawa Moronobu also left many outstanding works of art in the form of hanging scrolls, paintings of folding screens, and other hand paintings. His vividly colored paintings depict scenes of Edo life and Kabuki theater, sometimes humorously, sometimes joyfully.

The people in his genre paintings are characterized by the finely detailed and delicate depiction of their facial expressions and even the patterns of their kimonos. His paintings of beautiful women, painted with his own hand, are dressed like fashion models of today, with their trendy hairstyles and glamorous kimonos. Moronobu was born into the family whose business was to decorate textiles with embroideries and impressed metal foils, in Hongo, Hota, Hei County, Awa Province present Kyonan-machi, Chiba Prefecture.

Later he went to Edo to master the painting techniques of the Schools of Kano and Tosa, which produced official painters for the shogunate and the imperial court. Building on these techniques he established his own style that met the taste of the time, taking advantage of his common background. His masterpiece is "Mikaeri Bijin-zu" A Beauty Looking over Her Shoulder see the top right image which is an internationally acclaimed original ukiyo-e drawing.

Moronobu assimilated inchoate ukiyo-e designs by previous artists, creating the first truly mature form of ukiyo-e, in a style of great strength and presence that would set the standards for generations of artists who followed. Despite his popularity with ukiyo-e prints, his illustrations found in collaborations with other artists and in printed books are what kicked off his career.

In some cases Moronobu would take the images and subjects from other prints and illustrations made in Kyoto but would replace the images with his own illustrations to make it his own. A common subject Moronobu worked with was the depiction of women in their daily lives. He did this right up until the end of the 19th century, or in other words, the end of the Edo period.

This publication produced an argument on whether it was designed for women or not. The images depicted include long military processions and travelers of all ages and stations. Moronobu's work is held in numerous museum collections around the world, and in the Library of Congress. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history.

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