Issue 03 12-2019

The 25 Most Important Classical Artists (Vol. 1) Issue 03 12-2019

The 25 Most The Important Classical Shunga 25 Most Artists (Vol. 1) Important Classical Shunga Artists (Vol. 1)

On our forum (will be launched later this year!) and blog you can find much more exciting info about . You can also check out other free eBooks in the following section! Issue 03 12-2019 Contents

The 25 Most The 25 Most Important Classical Shunga Artists (Vol.1) 7 Important The Kanbun Master (act. c. 1660 - 1673) 9 Classical Shunga (1618 - 1694) 11 Artists Sugimura Jihei (c. 1680s - 1705) 13 (Vol. 1) (1671-1750) 15 Torii Kiyonobu (1664-1729) 17 (1686-1764) 19 Tsukioka Settei (1710-1786) 21 Terasawa Masatsugu (?-1790) 23 (1725?-1770) 25 Isoda Koryusai (1735-1790) 27 (1752-1815) 29 Katsukawa Shunshō (1726-1792) 31 Katsukawa Shunchō (act. c. 1780s-early 1800s) 33 Kitao Masanobu (1761-1816) 35 Mission 37

Copyright © 2019 On our forum (will be launched later this year!) and Design and lay out: Haags Bureau blog you can find First print: december 2019 much more exciting info about Hokusai. You can also No part of this publication may be reproduced and/or check out other published by means of printing, photocopying, microfilm, free eBooks in the scan, electronic copy or in any other way, without prior following section! permission from the author and publisher. Issue 03 12-2019 The 25 Most Important Classical Shunga Artists (Vol. 1)

The 25 Most During the heydays of the period when the was thriving, Important the erotic prints, books and paintings (shunga) were sold like hot cakes. Classical Shunga For that reason many of the great ukiyo-e artists also sought their Artists fortune in this commodity and that’s why shunga made up a fairly large (Vol. 1) part of their oeuvre.

But it wasn’t just money that drove them, shunga also gave the option to fully express their creativity because their contribution to this genre was mostly anonymous (they were rarely signed) and shunga was not bound to limited quantity of subjects as with the other ukiyo-e genres. That is why many of them produced their best work in the erotic genre.

In this first volume you’ll find 14 of the 25 most important representatives who we think have had the greatest impact on shunga in chronological order (from the early primitive to Meiji era) starting with...

Fig. 1. Painting on silk ‘Through a hole on the veranda’ (c.1730s) by an unknown On our forum primitive master (will be launched later this year!) and blog you can find much more exciting info about Hokusai. You can also check out other free eBooks in the following section!

7 Issue 03 12-2019 The Kanbun Master (act. c. 1660 - 1673)

The 25 Most The label ‘Kanbun Master’ was first coined by the American critic Important Richard Lane after he found a series of works which spanned the Classical Shunga years 1660 to 1673 and that was distinct from that of Hishikawa Artists Moronobu (his mentor was most probably the Kanbun Master). (Vol. 1) The specific pictorial and graphic style of these unsigned pieces was clearly attributable to a single artist. Although it is also possible that what lies behind this name is in fact a studio of artists, all working in a stylistically constant style.

Fig. 2. ‘Geisha and lover (with hand coloring)’ (c.1660) by the Kanbun Master

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9 Issue 03 12-2019 Hishikawa Moronobu (1618 - 1694)

The 25 Most Generally considered the first true artist of ukiyo-e and founder Important of the art of the Floating World. Although he was not the first Classical Shunga figure , none of the others possessed his distinguishing style and Artists productivity. He added a smooth and powerful flow to his drawings (Vol. 1) which carry an air of total assurance. His most notable work was produced in the 1680s. While the majority of his shunga is to be found in the illustrated books, some of the most spectacular designs are seen among the series of single-sheet prints.

Fig. 3. ‘A man manipulates a dildo tied to a long poll the size of a fishing rod to arouse a girl being restrained by two women’ (c.1700) attributed to Hishikawa Moronobu

On our forum (will be launched later this year!) and blog you can find much more exciting info about Hokusai. You can also check out other free eBooks in the following section!

11 Issue 03 12-2019 Sugimura Jihei (c. 1680s - 1705)

The 25 Most A chief rival of Moronobu and an independent Edo-based artist. Important Very little is known about Sugimura Jihei except that he was a cousin Classical Shunga of one of the celebrated forty-seven ronin (masterless ). Artists Like Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) in Europe he was almost totally (Vol. 1) forgotten for over two centuries. This was mainly because his work was unsigned and at first sight very close to that of Moronobu. Sugimura was a specialist in the erotic. His output was tiny because he was a perfectionist, who would rather stick to what he knew he could do and do it superbly.

Fig. 4.

‘Young male lover moves the kimono of a sleeping beauty (with applied hand On our forum coloring)’ (c.1680) by Sugimura Jihei (will be launched later this year!) and blog you can find much more exciting info about Hokusai. You can also check out other free eBooks in the following section!

13 Issue 03 12-2019 Nishikawa Sukenobu (1671-1750)

The 25 Most He is by far considered the greatest ukiyo-e artist coming from Important the area ( and ). His extraordinary mastery in Classical Shunga portraying the female figure meant that he was in great demand for Artists shunga illustrations. Sukenobu’s both erotic and non-erotic works (Vol. 1) expose his stylistic qualities. Into his figures, particularly those of women, he infused a refinement of features, and a sense of grandeur in the expressions and gestures. He influenced all the great ukiyo-e masters of later generations from Harunobu to , from Okumura Masanobu to Chobunsai down to the later phases of the work by Hokusai.

Fig. 5. On our forum ‘Peeking girl using a hilt to pleasure herself’ (c.1717) by Nishikawa Sukenobu (will be launched later this year!) and blog you can find much more exciting info about Hokusai. You can also check out other free eBooks in the following section!

15 Issue 03 12-2019 Torii Kiyonobu (1664-1729)

The 25 Most Founder of the important and most probably the son Important of Torii Kiyomoto, a actor from Osaka who was specialized Classical Shunga in female roles. Kiyonobu’s earlier works are believed to have been Artists book illustrations and theater playbills (kanban), which remained the (Vol. 1) most popular activity at the school he founded. His contributions to shunga are the great albums (in both oban and aiban formats) which he produced in the decade following 1700. In these series of prints he demonstrates a voluptuous urgency which matches, and occasionally even surpasses Sugimura. Kiyonobu introduced a fullness of face and a heavy fleshiness of body into his drawing which is not to everyone’s taste.

Fig. 6. On our forum ‘Intimate couple and servant’ (c.1690s) Attributed to Torii Kiyonobu (c.1664–1729) (will be launched later this year!) and blog you can find much more exciting info about Hokusai. You can also check out other free eBooks in the following section!

17 Issue 03 12-2019 Okumura Masanobu (1686-1764)

The 25 Most Started as a pupil of the Torii school at an early age. He was already Important designing prints at the age of fifteen and publishing shunga by the Classical Shunga age of seventeen – and continued to the end of his life. Masanobu was Artists also a versatile entrepreneur who published and distributed prints and (Vol. 1) illustrated books. He used specific formats: very large prints (o-oban), which served as hanging paintings (kakemono), but also long and narrow ones (tanzaku). Masanobu’s shunga masterpiece ‘[Mountain of Dyed Colours] Patterns of the Bedrooms’ and was made around 1740. He was also the inventor of the hashira-e (pillar print) and uki-e as well as being at the forefront of advancements in colour printing.

Fig. 7. On our forum ‘Shows a young monk copulating with a beauty in the vicinity of a temple’ (c.1739) (will be launched from the series ‘Someiro no yama neya no hinagata, [Mountain of Dyed Colours] later this year!) and blog you can find Patterns of the Bedrooms’ by Okumura Masanobu much more exciting info about Hokusai. You can also check out other free eBooks in the following section!

19 Issue 03 12-2019 Tsukioka Settei (1710-1786)

The 25 Most An artist who lived and worked mainly in Osaka. Together with Important Sukenobu he is considered to be the leading artist of the Floating Classical Shunga World in Kamigata, a region that included Kyoto and Osaka. Settei had Artists a classical training at the Kano school and was partly influenced by (Vol. 1) Moronobu’s style. His own style moved toward a less forceful expression than that of the earlier Edo masters. Settei’s shunga were famous in their own day. Some were in great demand as magical panacea against various disasters. But they are now hard to find.

On our forum (will be launched Fig. 8. later this year!) and ‘Orgy scene involving one male and 4 females‘ (c.1760s) by Tsukioka Settei blog you can find much more exciting info about Hokusai. You can also check out other free eBooks in the following section!

21 Issue 03 12-2019 Terasawa Masatsugu (?-1790)

The 25 Most An obscure and talented Osaka artist who displayed an undulating Important style characterized by rounded lines and flowing textiles. It represents a Classical Shunga style in Edo books that preceded Suzuki Harunobu and Isoda Koryusai. Artists A great book series of Masatsugu is the rare Mr. Pussy-buyer’s Erotic (Vol. 1) Treasures (c. 1760).

Fig. 9. ‘A young couple make love while a man peeps around the corner, his tumid member On our forum piercing the sliding paper door. This type of image is known as shoji-koshi (‘through (will be launched later this year!) and the sliding door’)’ (c.1760s) from the series ‘Baibobo sensei injoho (Mr Pussy-buyer’s blog you can find Erotic Treasures’ by Terasawa Masatsugu much more exciting info about Hokusai. You can also check out other free eBooks in the following section!

23 Issue 03 12-2019 Suzuki Harunobu (1725?-1770)

The 25 Most Was a highly influential artist and an important pioneer. Famous for his Important fragile, sweet, and elegant female figures. He introduced the multi- Classical Shunga colour printing technique (before him all prints were hand-colored) Artists and together with his pupil Koryusai he gave a new impulse to the (Vol. 1) aesthetics of the woodblock print and especially to the shunga genre. Well-known series by him are ‘The Fashionable Lusty Maneemon’ (c. 1770), ‘Eight Fashionable Views of Edo’ (c. 1769) and ‘Eight Fashionable Parlour Views’ (c. 1768).

On our forum Fig. 10. (will be launched ‘Old and young couple‘ (c. 1760s) from the series ‘The Fashionable Lusty Maneemon‘ later this year!) and blog you can find by Suzuki Harunobu. much more exciting info about Hokusai. You can also check out other free eBooks in the following section!

25 Issue 03 12-2019 Isoda Koryusai (1735-1790)

The 25 Most The supreme student of Harunobu who excelled in depicting flowers Important and animals in the hashira-e (pillar) format but also shined in the Classical Shunga shunga genre to which he contributed a lot both in the chuban format Artists but also in the larger oban-sized prints. Koryusai was also one of the (Vol. 1) first to portray exaggerated genitalia. Although his early work was similar (sometimes even difficult to discern) to that of his mentor Harunobu, he later developed a style that was more robust and realistic. His famous series are ‘The Prosperous Flowers of the Fashionable Twelve Seasons’ (c. 1773), ‘Sensual Colours, a Phoenix Released in the Field’ (c. 1775) and ‘Twelve Holds of Love’ (c. 1775-77).

Fig. 11. ‘Couple and peeking boy’ (c.1775) from the series ‘Sensual Colors, Phoenix Free in a Field’ (Enshoku Ho Ya Ho)‘ by Isoda Koryusai On our forum (will be launched later this year!) and blog you can find much more exciting info about Hokusai. You can also check out other free eBooks in the following section!

27 Issue 03 12-2019 Torii Kiyonaga (1752-1815)

The 25 Most One of the giants of the art of ukiyo-e. Kiyonaga was mainly a Important portrayer of the female figure (preferably standing) but in the field of Classical Shunga shunga, he is known for his exceptional oban series ‘Twelve Holds in Artists the Way of Sex’ c. 1784 and his masterpiece ‘The Sleeve Scroll (Sode no (Vol. 1) maki)’, issued in 1785. The latter is unique in the erotic genre because of the long narrow hashira-e (pillar) format.

Kiyonaga’s shunga convey a sensitivity often absent in his non-shunga, which have often been criticized as stiff and formal in their portrayal of women. He seems to have produced no prints after 1790, perhaps because of the demands on him once he became the head of the Torii Fig. 12. school in the later 1780s. ‘Pregnant female making love’ (c. 1785) from the series ‘The Sleeve Scroll (Sode no maki)’ by Kiyonaga

On our forum (will be launched later this year!) and blog you can find much more exciting info about Hokusai. You can also check out other free eBooks in the following section!

29 Issue 03 12-2019 Katsukawa Shunshō (1726-1792)

The 25 Most One of the leading artists of ukiyo-e and the founder and teacher of Important the who educated and formed many of the most Classical Shunga prominent names within ukiyo-e (Shun’ei, Shunko, Shunchō and the Artists great Hokusai). Shunshō was particularly notable as a designer of actor (Vol. 1) prints). His early erotic works were in the manner of Harunobu.

Later he followed Koryusai’s example in pursuing a greater boldness and physicality. These were rich in color and full of emotion. This is true for ‘Haikai Album of the Cuckoo’ which is one of the artist’s most successful in terms of relation between the images and the dialogues between the protagonists.

Fig. 13. ‘A one-sided intimate encounter in the dark’ (c. 1788) from the series ‘Haikai Album of the Cuckoo (Ehon haikai yokubo-dori)’ by Katsukawa Shunsho On our forum (will be launched later this year!) and blog you can find much more exciting info about Hokusai. You can also check out other free eBooks in the following section!

31 Issue 03 12-2019 Katsukawa Shunchō (act. c. 1780s-early 1800s)

The 25 Most Biographical information on Shunchō is sparse. He most probably had Important a falling out with his master Shunsho around 1784 and sought refuge Classical Shunga with the artist Kubo (1757-1820). His work is reminiscent to Artists that of Utamaro and Kiyonaga but he definitely had his own approach. (Vol. 1) His style tends to be gentle, and in his shunga prints he, like Kiyonaga, conveys a sense that the women too are enjoying the sexual encounter. The author Tom Evans who was a big fan of Shunchō wrote: “Shunchō’s unique talent can be summarized as the ability to depict feelings of physical passion with the grace of a lyrical poet.”

Fig. 14. ‘Maiden dreaming of attack by devils’ from the series ‘Takara bako (A Female On our forum Treasure)’ by Katsukawa Shuncho (will be launched later this year!) and blog you can find much more exciting info about Hokusai. You can also check out other free eBooks in the following section!

33 Issue 03 12-2019 Kitao Masanobu (1761-1816)

The 25 Most Santo Kyoden was the original name of this artist. He was one of the Important most interesting figures in Edo´s middle-class bohemian culture of Classical Shunga the late eighteenth century. He was a man of the world in every sense. Artists Distinguished as a writer, a painter, a calligrapher and a poet, but he (Vol. 1) was also a connoisseur and moved with equal ease and casualness among the Yoshiwara prostitutes (two of whom he married) as among the intellectual elite. Masanobu created very few prints but all of them of exceptional quality. His style was fluid and often humorous. A sense of irony was also present in his erotic images.

Fig. 15. On our forum ‘A female commits adultery with a secret lover. The cat licking its balls adds a comic (will be launched touch.’ (c.1785) by Kitao Masanobu later this year!) and blog you can find much more exciting info about Hokusai. You can also check out other free eBooks in the following section!

35 Issue 03 12-2019 Mission

The 25 Most At ShungaGallery it’s our express purpose to offer a sensual oasis Important in a desert of prudishness. Although the internet has ensured that Classical Shunga there are enormous opportunities for people to express themselves, Artists there is still a politically correct moral that suppresses the more bold (Vol. 1) expressions. This same puritanism also still applies within the art and museum world where the so-called risky subjects are avoided.

Thanks for downloading this first volume. We will fight this by fire and sword and therefore continue to add new In the second volume that will be published shortly exciting eBooks and content on shunga and adjacent subversive topics in the future. Thanks for downloading our third eBook and hope to see you can check out the remaining ones! you on the other side...!!

On our forum (will be launched later this year!) and blog you can find much more exciting info about Hokusai. You can also check out other free eBooks in the following section!

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