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, 01:25, 26 January 2010
*''Born: c. [[1697]]''
*''Died: c. [[1756]]''
*''Japanese'': 西村重長 ''(Nishimura Shigenaga)''
Nishimura Shigenaga was an ''[[ukiyo-e]]'' artist who, like his contemporary [[Okumura Masanobu]], is known for having experimented extensively in a variety of modes and subjects. Working primarily in the time of ''[[urushi-e]]'' ("lacquer prints") and ''[[benizuri-e]]'' ("rose prints"), he produced images not only of standard subjects such as [[bijinga|beautiful girls]], but also of [[bird and flower painting|birds and flowers]]; he experimented with triptychs, ''[[ishizuri-e]]'' (stone-rubbing prints), and ''[[uki-e]]'' prints that centered on their use of Western perspective.
Perhaps his most important contribution, however, was in pioneering landscapes as a mode of ''ukiyo-e'' images. He was among the first to produce images of figures in a landscape (the vast majority of prints up until then lacking any background or contextual space within which the figures existed), and [[meisho-e|series of famous places]], two modes which would become extremely prominent a generation or two later.
Shigenaga's stylistic influence can be seen in the work of his pupils, who included [[Nishimura Shigenobu]], [[Ishikawa Toyonobu]], and [[Suzuki Harunobu]].
==References==
*Lane, Richard. ''Images from the Floating World''. New York: Konecky & Konecky, 1978. pp84-86.
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Artists and Artisans]]