Kitao Shigemasa

Birds and Iris

Kitao Shigemasa (北尾 重政, 1739 – 8 March 1820) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist from Edo. He was one of the leading printmakers of his day, but his works have been slightly obscure. He is noted for paintings of geisha.^[1] He was taught by Shigenaga and has been referred to as "a chameleon" who adopted to changing styles. He was less active after the rise of Torii Kiyonaga and produced relatively few works considering the length of his career.^[2] He is also noted for his haikai (poetry) and shodō (Japanese calligraphy). In his later years he used the studio name Kosuisai.^[3]

Life and career

Shigemasa was born the eldest son of bookseller Suharaya Mohei in 1739 in Nihonbashi area Edo (modern Tokyo). His family name was Kitabatake and his childhood name was Tarōkichi. Throughout his life he also used the personal names Kyūgorō and Sasuke.^[4]

Shigemasa taught himself art before becoming a student of Nishimura Shigenaga. His early works are bijin-ga portraits of beautiful women in the style of Harunobu. From 1765 he began illustrating books, which became is main focus; over 250 are known. His work was published by more than twenty publishers, including Tsutaya Jūzaburō.^[4]

A number of Shigemasa's better-known works were collaborations with Shunshō: the print series Silkworm Cultivation (Kaiko yashinai gusa) beginning about 1772; and the illustrations for the book Mirror of Competing Beauties of the Green Houses (Seirō bijin awase sugata kagami) from about 1776.^[4]

Shigemasa founded the Kitao school of art. Amongst his students were Kubo Shunman and Santō Kyōden. Shigemasa died in his 82nd year on the 24th day of the first month of 1820. His work also appeared under the art names Hokuhō, Kōsuisai, Kōsuiken, Suihō Itsujin, and others. He wrote poetry that appeared under the name Karan.^[4]

Gallery

• Works by Kitao Shigemasa
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  Rabbits eating grapes

References

1. The Edward Burr Van Vleck collection of Japanese prints by Elvehjem Museum of Art
2. Chats on Japanese prints by Arthur Davison Ficke, pgs 201-203
3. Collection of auction catalogs on Japanese art, Volume 30 by Arthur Baldwin Duel, pgs 20-22
4. Marks 2012, p. 74.

Works cited

• Marks, Andreas (2012). Japanese Woodblock Prints: Artists, Publishers and Masterworks: 1680–1900. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4629-0599-7.

External links

Media related to Kitao Shigemasa at Wikimedia Commons

• Heian Period Tale of the Nightingale in the Plum Tree by Kitao Shigemasa