Ryusai Shigeharu

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In this Japanese name, the surname is Ryūsai.
Arashi Rikan II as Osome

Ryūsai Shigeharu (柳やなぎ窗まど重春しげはる/柳やなぎ斎ひとし重春しげはる) (1802–1853) was an Osaka-based Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock print artist active during the first half of the nineteenth century. A member of the Utagawa school, he was one of a very select group of kamigata-e print artists who were able to support themselves solely as professional artists.

Biography[edit]

Shigeharu was born Yamaguchi Yasuhide in Hizen Province, Nagasaki in 1802 (year 2 of Kyōwa). His father, Yamaguchi Zenzaemon (山口やまぐち善よし右みぎ衛門えもん) operated the Ōshima-ya (大島おおしま屋や) money changing business. He moved to the Mitsudera-machi (三津寺みつてら町まち) district of Osaka around 1820, to study printmaking with his first mentor, Utagawa (Takigawa) Kunihiro (歌川うたがわ国広くにひろ) (fl. c.1815-1841).[1] His next teacher was Yanagawa Shigenobu (柳川やながわ重信しげのぶ) (1787–1832), with whom he collaborated on several major projects. Some have suggested that Shigeharu also studied under master print designer Hokusai; however, there is no definitive evidence to support this.[2] As was the custom for ukiyo-e artists, Shigeharu used various gō throughout his career. He published his first print in 1820 under the name Nagasaki Kunishige (長崎ながさき国重くにしげ), acknowledging both his birthplace and his first teacher. He adopted the name Ryūsai Shigeharu, which incorporated two characters from his second master's name, in the spring of 1825.[3] In response to political strife during the period, Shigeharu returned to Nagasaki in the early 1840s.[4] He died on May 5, 1852, aged only 51.[5] His daughter, Yonejo, went on to become a painter, whose work was particularly coveted by foreign collectors.[6] There is some dispute over Shigeharu's activity in the final years of his life. Some suggest that he may have returned to Osaka in the late 1840s, and continued to produce prints under the name Kunishige from 1849 until the time of his death.[7] Others argue that ōkubi-e bust portraits signed by Kunishige and other works signed by Shigeharu dating to c.1849-1851 are likely the work of different artists.[8]

Life dates c.1802-1853
Career dates c.1820-1849
Birth name Yamaguchi Yasuhide [安秀やすひで]
Personal name Yamaguchi Jinjirō [山口やまぐち甚治郎ろう]
Gō[9] Nagasaki Kunishige [長崎ながさき国重くにしげ] (1821), Kunishige　[国重くにしげ], Nagasaki Shigeharu [長崎ながさき重春しげはる] (1821), Baigansai Kunishige [梅うめ丸まる斎ひとし国重くにしげ] (1821), Takigawa Kunishige [滝川たきがわ国重くにしげ] (1825), Ryūsai Shigeharu [柳やなぎ窗まど重春しげはる/柳やなぎ斎ひとし重春しげはる] (1825), Gyokuryūtei [玉たま柳やなぎ亭てい] (1830), Gyokuryūtei Shigeharu [玉たま柳やなぎ亭てい重春しげはる] (c. 1830-32), Gokuryūsai Shigeharu [玉たま柳やなぎ斎ひとし重春しげはる]
Professional names[10] Yamaguchi Shigeharu [山口やまぐち重春しげはる], Hōzan Shigeharu [烽山重春しげはる], Kiyoutei [崎さき陽ひ亭てい], Nichika [日にち華はな]
Seals Ryū [柳やなぎ], Yamaguchi-uji Shigeharu [山口やまぐち氏し重春しげはる],[11] Haru [春はる][12]
Mentors Utagawa Kunihiro, Yanagawa Shigenobu
Pupils Shigenao, Shigefusa, Shigeyasu, Shigetoyo, Shigeyoshi, Shigehiro, Shigemasa

Works[edit]

signature & seal

In the Bunsei (文政ぶんせい) era (4/1818-12/1830), Shigeharu began working in various media including single-sheet prints, book illustration, theater billboards and programs, and paintings.[13] His artistic output is generally dated to the period c.1820-1849, with the years 1829-1831 marking the peak of his work in ichimai-e (一いち枚まい絵え) single-sheet print design.[14] There are several blank periods in his career from which no or very few prints are known, including mid-1822 through mid-1825 and 1838.

From 1831 on, Shigeharu provided illustrations for a number of books including The Three Kingdoms of Actors' Customs Yakusha fūzoku sangokushi (役者やくしゃ風俗ふうぞく三国志さんごくし). The work he did with his master, Shigenobu, on a book of fashionable patterns in courtesan clothing (Ryūko moyō chakui tayū no zu (竜虎りゅうこ紋様もんよう着衣ちゃくい太夫たゆうの図ず)) earned him particular acclaim.[15] He also collaborated on book illustrations with the artists Gion Seitoku (祇園ぎおん井い特とく) and Mihata Jōryū (三さん畠ばたけ上じょう龍りゅう).[16] He frequently worked in association with the Tenki (天てん喜き) or Tenmaya Kihei (天満屋てんまや喜兵衛きへえ) publishing house.[17] Operating under the firm name Kinkadō (金華きんか堂どう), Tenki was active from 1816 into the 1850s.[18]

Reputation[edit]

Contemporary estimations of Shigeharu's work tend to be favourable. According to a compendium of Osaka gossip published in 1835, Shigeharu was "good at everything." A manuscript of artist biographies from the mid-1840s characterizes him as "better than the rest," and notes his professional status.[19] Modern critics, however, have been less positive, describing him as "an indifferent artist".[20] This notwithstanding, Shigeharu was, if not the only professional ukiyo-e artist working in Osaka in the late nineteenth-century, one of the very few on the amateur-dominated scene.[21]

Collections[edit]

Onoe Kikugorō & Sawamura Kintarō

Ryūsai Shigeharu's work is found in many collections, including the following:

  • "MFA Boston".
  • "The Pushkin".
  • "The British Museum".
  • The ROM
  • "The Walters Art Museum".
  • "Brooklyn Museum".
  • "Honolulu Museum".
  • "Rijksmuseum".

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ The British Museum dates his activity to c.1816-1835, Oxford Reference to c.1821-1841, and Ujlaki to c.1821-1841.
  2. ^ Roberts 1980, 145
  3. ^ Japan Arts Council
  4. ^ Roberts 1980, 145
  5. ^ Japan Arts Council
  6. ^ Lyon 2013
  7. ^ Roberts 1980, 145
  8. ^ Lyon 2013
  9. ^ Japan Arts Council 2012
  10. ^ Japan Arts Council 2012
  11. ^ Ujlaki
  12. ^ Yonemura 2002, 346
  13. ^ Lyon 2013
  14. ^ Lyon 2013
  15. ^ Kodansha 2009, 1972
  16. ^ Kodansha 2009, 1972
  17. ^ Newland 2005, 561
  18. ^ Keyes and Mizushima 1973, 311
  19. ^ Lyon 2013
  20. ^ Roberts 1980, 145
  21. ^ Davis 2007, 18

External links[edit]

References[edit]

  • Brandon, James R.; Leiter, Samuel L. (2002), "The Scandalous Love of Osome and Hisamatsu", Kabuki Plays on Stage: Darkness and Desire, 1804-1864, Honolulu: University of Hawai'i, pp. 63–90, ISBN 0824824555
  • Davis, Judy Nelson (2007), "Now Appearing in Print: Osaka Actors and their Audience", in Winegrad, Dilys Pegler (ed.), Dramatic Impressions: Japanese Theatre Prints from the Gilbert Luber Collection, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, pp. 13–35, ISBN 978-0812219852
  • JAANUS, Kamigata-e, Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System, retrieved January 16, 2014
  • Keyes, Roger S.; Mizushima, Keiko (1973), The Theatrical World of Osaka Prints, Boston: Philadelphia Museum of Art, ISBN 0879230711
  • Kitagawa, Hiroko (2005), "Kamigata-e: The Prints of Osaka and Kyoto", in Newland, Amy Reigle (ed.), The Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints, vol. 1, Amsterdam: Hotei, pp. 229–232, ISBN 9074822657
  • Kodansha (2009), "柳やなぎ斎ひとし重春しげはる (Ryūsai Shigeharu)", in Ueda (上田うえだ), Masaaki (正せい昭あきら) (ed.), 講談社こうだんしゃ日本人にっぽんじん名めい大だい辞典じてん (Kodansha NihonjinMei Daijiten), Tokyo: Kodansha, p. 1972, ISBN 978-4062108003
  • Lyon, Mike (2013), Ryusai Shigeharu, Lyon Collection of Japanese Woodblock Prints, retrieved March 2, 2014
  • Newland, Amy Reigle (2005). The Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints, vol. 2. Amsterdam: Hotei. ISBN 9074822657.
  • Roberts, Laurance, P. (1980). A Dictionary of Japanese Artists. New York: Weatherhill. p. 145. ISBN 083480235X.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Samurai Archives (1 January 2012), Arashi Rikan II, Samurai Archives, retrieved March 3, 2014
  • Shōriya, Aragorō (2013), Arashi Rikan II, Kabuki 21, retrieved March 2, 2014
  • Yonemura, Ann (2002). Masterful Illusions: Japanese Prints from the Anne van Biema Collection. Washington, D.C.: University of Washington. ISBN 0295982713.
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