Katsukawa Shunsho

Japanese: 勝川春章 - かつかわ・しゅんしょう

Year of death: 8th December 1793 (19th January 1793)
Year of birth: Kyoho 11 (1726)
A mid-Edo period ukiyo-e artist. His given name was Masateru, his pen name was Chihiro, and he was commonly known as Yosuke and Yusuke. His other artistic names included Kyokurosei, Ririn, and Yuji. He studied under Miyagawa Shunsui, a disciple of ukiyo-e artist Miyagawa Choshun, and made his full-fledged appearance in the art world during the early Meiwa period (1764-1772), the early days of nishiki-e. During the Meiwa period, he was mainly active with Suzuki Harunobu and others, and produced a number of nishiki-e works influenced by Harunobu in the field of beautiful women. At the same time, during this period, he collaborated with Itsubitto Saibuncho to produce a new style of thin-format actor portraits of Kabuki actors, which became famous for their popularity surpassing that of the traditional Torii school actor portraits. Shunsho's actor portraits, which are elegant and delicate with little unnecessary exaggeration and are backed by accurate descriptive ability, played a leading role in the ukiyo-e world of the time and had a great influence on other artists of the same era. Especially from the mid-An'ei period (1772-81), Shunsho and his disciple Katsukawa Shunko dominated the world of actor painting, and their mature style won overwhelming support until the mid-Tenmei period (1781-89). Meanwhile, from the early Tenmei period, Shunsho gradually began to produce many hand-painted beauties, and by the mid-Tenmei period, he had established a style of beauties that was praised for its grace and elegance, and it took the world by storm. His hand-painted painting skills, which were in the style of the Miyagawa school, were outstanding, and he was considered the leading figure in the world of hand-painted beauties in the ukiyo-e world. This excellent technique was later passed on to his disciple Katsushika Hokusai. In the world of beauties painting during the Tenmei period, a division was established between Shunsho in hand-painted paintings and Torii Kiyonaga in nishiki-e, and he reigned as a leading figure representing the profusion of flowers in the golden age of ukiyo-e until his death.

(Masato Naito)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：寛政4.12.8(1793.1.19)
生年：享保11(1726)
江戸中期の浮世絵師。名は正輝,字は千尋,俗称要助,祐助。画号はほかに旭朗井,李林,酉爾など。浮世絵師宮川長春の弟子宮川春水に学び,明和(1764～72)前期の錦絵創始期に本格的に画壇に登場した。明和年間は主に鈴木春信らと共に活躍し,美人画では春信に影響を受けた錦絵類を若干数発表した。それと同時に,この時期には一筆斉文調と協力して,歌舞伎俳優の似顔を描く新様の細判役者絵を打ち出し,伝統的な鳥居派役者絵を凌ぐ人気で世に名を成した。いたずらな誇張が少なく優美,繊細で,しかも適確な描写力に裏付けられた春章の役者似顔絵は,当時の浮世絵界に主導的役割を果たし,同時代の他の絵師たちにも多大な影響を与えている。とりわけ安永(1772～81)中期以降,役者絵界は春章とその弟子勝川春好の独壇場となり,円熟した画風で天明(1781～89)中期ごろまで圧倒的な支持を得た。その一方で,春章は天明前期ごろから次第に肉筆美人画を数多く手懸けるようになり,天明中期までには優婉典雅と評価される美人画様式を確立して,一世を風靡した。宮川派の流れを引くその肉筆画制作の手腕は秀逸で,肉筆美人画において浮世絵界の第一人者とされる。なお,この作画の優れたテクニックは,のちに弟子の葛飾北斎へと受け継がれている。天明期の美人画界は,肉筆画ではこの春章,そして錦絵では鳥居清長という住み分けの構図が成立し,没年に至るまで百花繚乱たる浮世絵黄金時代を代表する大御所として君臨した。

(内藤正人)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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