Hishikawa Moronobu

{{Short description|Japanese painter (1618–1694)}} {{Infobox artist |name = Hishikawa Moronobu |image = File:Self-portrait by Hishikawa Moronobu.jpg |caption = |birth_name = |birth_date = 1618 |birth_place = Hodomura, Kyonan, Awa Province, Japan |death_date = {{death date|1694|7|25|df=y}} (aged 76) |death_place = Edo, now Tokyo, Japan |field = ukiyo-e}}

'''Hishikawa Moronobu''' ({{langx|ja|菱川師宣}}; 1618 – 25 July 1694)<ref>Hishikawa's birth date is sometimes placed as late as c1625; see Lawrence Gowing, ed., Biographical Encyclopedia of Artists, v.3 (Facts on File, 2005): 473.</ref> was a Japanese artist known for popularizing the ukiyo-e genre of woodblock prints and paintings in the late 17th century.<ref>Lyons, Martyn. "Books: A Living History". Getty Publishing, 2011, p 161.</ref> He consolidated the works of scattered Japanese art styles and forged the early development of ukiyo-e.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Lane |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DV62zgEACAAJ |title=Masters of Japanese Print, Their World and Their Work |publisher=Thames & Hudson |year=1962 |location=London |pages=42, 46, 49 |isbn=9781015300231 |language=en}}</ref>

==Early life== Born in Hoda at the distant end of Edo Bay, Moronobu was the son of a well-respected embroiderer of rich tapestries who produced them for the use of temples and wealthy patrons. His initial works consisted designs for embroidery.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hishikawa Moronobu {{!}} Biography, Art, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hishikawa-Moronobu |access-date=2023-12-21 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> After moving to Edo in the 1660s, Moronobu, who had likely learned skills from his father's craft, and studied both Tosa and Kanō-style painting.<ref name=":0" /> He thus had a solid grounding in both decorative crafts and academic painting, which served him well when he then turned to ukiyo-e, which he studied with his mentor, the Kanbun Master.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}

==Work== thumb|alt=|''Beauty looking back''. This painting was completed around the 17th century, depicting a beautiful woman wearing a kimono turning around. It was adopted as a stamp design around 1948 and became popular.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://media.thisisgallery.com/20214081 | title=菱川師宣の浮世絵「見返り美人図」を解説！見どころはどこ？ | thisismedia | date=6 April 2021 }}</ref> alt=This print is an example of the Edo inspired eroticism that Moronobu would depict in his works|thumb|Courtesans parading with servants while holding umbrellas<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.artic.edu/artworks/19061/a-parade-of-courtesans|title=A Parade of Courtesans|website=The Art Institute of Chicago|language=en|access-date=2019-11-17}}</ref> thumb|alt=|'''Panel from a series of 12, in ''abuna-e'' style'''<br/>Late 1670s–early 1680s; Hishikawa Moronobu (1618-1694); Woodcut, sumi ink on paper The earliest known illustration of Moronobu that can be dated comes from his work titled ''One Hundred Warrior Poets'' from 1672, although earlier works may yet surface.<ref name=":0" /> By the mid-1670s Moronobu had already become the most important ukiyo-e printmaker, a position he maintained until his death.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Japan |title=Moronobu |url=http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ |access-date=2012-03-04 |year=2012 |publisher=Shogakukan |location=Tokyo |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825113418/http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ |archive-date=2007-08-25 }}</ref> He produced more than 100 sets of illustrations, perhaps as many as 150, with around 20 being of an erotic nature.<ref name=":0" /> Though it is difficult to attribute to him many unsigned examples (for example, the scholar Kiyoshi Shibui established, in 1926, a basis for crediting some of the designs previously given to Moronobu as the work of Sugumura Jihei). Very few of Moronobu's single-sheet prints have survived, and most, if not all, are unsigned.

Moronobu assimilated inchoate ukiyo-e designs by previous artists, creating the first truly mature form of ukiyo-e, in a style of great strength and presence that would set the standards for generations of artists who followed.

In 1685, the ukiyo-e book {{nihongo|''Kokon Bushidō ezukushi''|古今武士道絵つくし|"Images of Bushidō Through the Ages"}} by Moronobu was published.<ref name="nippon-bushido"/> It features heroic popular tales of samurai warriors with simple descriptions for each artwork.<ref name="nippon-bushido"/> The title includes the word ''bushido'' and was meant for children, which shows that it had spread among the general population.<ref name="nippon-bushido">{{cite web |website=Nippon.com |title=Bushidō: An Ethical and Spiritual Foundation in Japan |date=June 12, 2019 |author=Kasaya Kazuhiko |url=https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/g00665/bushido-an-ethical-and-spiritual-foundation-in-japan.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191108042249/https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/g00665/bushido-an-ethical-and-spiritual-foundation-in-japan.html |archive-date=8 November 2019}}</ref>

Despite his popularity with ukiyo-e prints, his illustrations found in collaborations with other artists and in printed books are what kicked off his career. In some cases Moronobu would take the images and subjects from other prints and illustrations made in Kyoto but would replace the images with his own illustrations to make them his own. A common subject Moronobu worked with was the depiction of women in their daily lives. He did this right up until the end of the 19th century, or in other words, the end of the Edo period. An example would be his contribution of illustrations for Hyankunin isshu zōsanshō (One Hundred Poets with Portraits and Commentaries). This publication produced an argument on whether it was designed for women or not.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The female as subject : reading and writing in early modern Japan|others=Kornicki, Peter F. (Peter Francis), Patessio, Mara, 1975-, Rowley, G. G., 1960-|date=2 February 2016|isbn=9781929280759|location=Ann Arbor [Mich.]|oclc=993676498}}</ref> Moronobu's illustrations can also be found in The Pictorial Survey, drafted by Ochikochi Dōin. The images depicted include long military processions and travelers of all ages and stations.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Japan in print : information and nation in the early modern period|last=Berry, Mary Elizabeth, 1947-|date=2006|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520941465|location=Berkeley, Calif.|oclc=63813517}}</ref> As he continued to do prints the subjects, scenes, colors, composition, and even his line work changed with adaptation of techniques and the audience that was interested in the current activities displayed.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Cordaro|first=Madalena Natsuko Hashimoto|date=1997|title=Hishikawa Moronobu: from paintings to prints|url=http://www.periodicos.usp.br/ej/article/view/141707|journal=Estudos Japoneses|language=en|volume=17|pages=129–140|doi=10.11606/issn.2447-7125.v17i0p129-140|issn=2447-7125|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Moronobu's work is held in numerous museum collections around the world, and in the Library of Congress.<ref name=WDL1>{{cite web|title=Pictorial Map of the Tōkaidō Highroad|url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/9933|publisher=World Digital Library|access-date=6 May 2013}}</ref>

==Gallery==

<gallery mode="packed" heights="180"> File:Hishikawa-Moronobu-woodblock-print-1680.jpg|''Lobby of a brothel'' from ''Yoshiwara no tei'' series, ca. 1680. File:MORONOBU.JPG|''Shunga'', early 1680s, private collection. File:Brooklyn Museum - Ayame no Sikku - Hishikawa Moronobu.jpg|''Ayame no Sikku'', between 1650 and 1700, Brooklyn Museum. File:Brooklyn Museum - Women Dressmaking (left) and Artesans at Work (right) - Hishikawa Moronobu.jpg|''Women dressmaking and artisans at work'', between 1675 and 1695, Brooklyn Museum. File:Gardens and Pavilions of Pleasure, by Hishikawa Moronobu, late 17th century - Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art - DSC09096.JPG|''Gardens and Pavilions of Pleasure'', late 17th century, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. File:Kokon-Bushido-Ezukushi-(Bushido-Through-The-Ages-Book).png|Book cover of Kokon Bushido Ezukushi (Bushido Through The Ages) (1685) 2 Bijin-zu by Hishikawa Moronobu.jpg|Two beauties (ink and color on silk) </gallery>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{Commons category-inline|Hishikawa Moronobu}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060323230946/http://www.sony.net/Products/SC-HP/cx_news/vol34/columns.html Ukiyoe The third story] *[http://www.tnm.jp/modules/r_collection/index.php?controller=dtl&colid=A60 ''Beauty looking back'', Tokyo National Museum] *[http://www.emuseum.jp/detail/100311/000/000?mode=simple&d_lang=en&s_lang=en&word=moronobu&class=&title=&c_e=&region=&era=&century=&cptype=&owner=&pos=1&num=2 ''Kabuki drama'', Tokyo National Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304200215/http://www.emuseum.jp/detail/100311/000/000?mode=simple&d_lang=en&s_lang=en&word=moronobu&class=&title=&c_e=&region=&era=&century=&cptype=&owner=&pos=1&num=2 |date=2016-03-04 }} *[https://heni.com/talks/1-minute-1-work-the-sake-drinking-boy ''The Sake Drinking Boy,'' by artist Shantell Martin and HENI Talks] *More examples of Moronobu's work can be found at [http://ukiyo-e.org/artist/hishikawa-moronobu Ukiyo-e Search]<ref>Resig, John. "Hishikawa Moronobu". Ukiyo-e Search, 2012. 23, February 2015.</ref>

{{Ukiyo-e artists}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hishikawa, Moronobu}} Category:Ukiyo-e artists Category:1618 births Category:1694 deaths Category:Japanese erotic artists Category:Artists from Chiba Prefecture Category:17th-century Japanese artists