Changes

*''Died: [[1770]]''

*''Died: [[1770]]''

*''Japanese'': [[鈴木]]春信 ''(Suzuki Harunobu)''

*''Japanese'': [[鈴木]]春信 ''(Suzuki Harunobu)''

Suzuki Harunobu is one of the most famous and influential ''[[ukiyo-e]]'' artists. He is known chiefly as the inventor of the process for making full-color prints, which came to be called ''[[nishiki-e]]'', and for his quite distinctive, and influential, style of portraying beautiful youths.

Suzuki Harunobu is one of the most famous and influential ''[[ukiyo-e]]'' artists. He is known chiefly as the inventor of the process for making full-color prints, which came to be called ''[[nishiki-e]]'', and for his quite distinctive, and influential, style of portraying beautiful youths.

It is unclear who Harunobu may have studied under, though his style shows the strong influence of [[Nishimura Shigenaga]] and [[Nishikawa Sukenobu]]. He may have also had formal training under a [[Kano school|Kanô school]] master. His early work reflects in particular the influence of the [[Torii school]] of ''ukiyo-e'' artists, who dominated the ''[[yakusha-e]]'' and ''[[bijinga]]'' modes.

It is unclear who Harunobu may have studied under, though his style shows the strong influence of [[Nishimura Shigenaga]] and [[Nishikawa Sukenobu]]. He may have also had formal training under a [[Kano school|Kanô school]] master. His early work, done in the late 1750s to early 1760s, reflects in particular the influence of the [[Torii school]] of ''ukiyo-e'' artists, who dominated the ''[[yakusha-e]]'' and ''[[bijinga]]'' modes.

Though Harunobu's ''nishiki-e'' would prove an exceptionally important development in the history of ''ukiyo-e'', they derived originally from an obscure corner of the world of prints and popular culture. ''[[E-goyomi]]'', or "calendar prints," did not explicitly display the months and days as a regular calendar would, but were single-sheet images which incorporated into their designs representations of which months in a given year would be the short months.

Though Harunobu's ''nishiki-e'' would prove an exceptionally important development in the history of ''ukiyo-e'', they derived originally from an obscure corner of the world of prints and popular culture. ''[[E-goyomi]]'', or "calendar prints," did not explicitly display the months and days as a regular calendar would, but were single-sheet images which incorporated into their designs representations of which months in a given year would be the short months.

Harunobu died in 1770, only five years after introducing the ''nishiki-e'' print. However, in those last few years of his life, he produced over one thousand print designs, chiefly depictions of willowy young girls, but also a fair percentage of ''[[shunga]]'' (erotic prints), as most ''ukiyo-e'' artists did. He also produced a number of paintings, and pioneered the reintroduction of larger print sizes, the ''chûban'' size having dominated for a time.

Harunobu died in 1770, only five years after introducing the ''nishiki-e'' print. However, in those last few years of his life, he produced over one thousand print designs, chiefly depictions of willowy young girls, but also a fair percentage of ''[[shunga]]'' (erotic prints), as most ''ukiyo-e'' artists did. He also produced a number of paintings, and pioneered the reintroduction of larger print sizes, the ''chûban'' size having dominated for a time.

Though Harunobu was hardly the only artist to depict scenes from everyday life - as opposed to those from the [[kabuki]] theatre and pleasure quarters, fantasies removed from everyday life - ''ukiyo-e'' expert [[Richard Lane]] identifies him as influential in establishing and embracing the mode of depicting beauties from everyday life. A young girl by the name of [[Osen]] appears in a great many of Harunobu's prints; not a courtesan herself, but merely a waitress or something to that effect, she epitomized for Harunobu the beauty that can be found in everyday life, outside of the pleasure quarters.

Though Harunobu was hardly the only artist to depict scenes from everyday life - as opposed to those from the [[kabuki]] theatre and pleasure quarters, fantasies removed from everyday life - ''ukiyo-e'' expert [[Richard Lane]] identifies him as influential in establishing and embracing the mode of depicting beauties from everyday life. A young girl by the name of [[Kasamori Osen]] appears in a great many of Harunobu's prints; not a courtesan herself, but merely a waitress or something to that effect, she epitomized for Harunobu the beauty that can be found in everyday life, outside of the pleasure quarters.

Lane summarizes Harunobu's vision as "idealistic but always focused on reality - the real as it should be but seldom is." Though Harunobu did produce quite a number of prints depicting courtesans and kabuki actors, his real focus was on the beauty to be found outside of those realms of fantasy, in the real world of everyday life.

Lane summarizes Harunobu's vision as "idealistic but always focused on reality - the real as it should be but seldom is." Though Harunobu did produce quite a number of prints depicting courtesans and kabuki actors, his real focus was on the beauty to be found outside of those realms of fantasy, in the real world of everyday life.

==References==

==References==

*Lane, Richard. ''Images from the Floating World''. New York: Konecky & Konecky, 1978. pp99-111.

*Lane, Richard. ''Images from the Floating World''. New York: Konecky & Konecky, 1978. pp99-111.

 

[[Category:Edo Period]]

[[Category:Edo Period]]

[[Category:Artists and Artisans]]

[[Category:Artists and Artisans]]