Hiroshige II (1826 - 1869 )
Hiroshige II, born Chimpei Morita, belonged to a family of firemen. The protégé of Hiroshige, Hiroshige II was adopted by this great ukiyo-e master in 1845. Hiroshige II used the name Shigenobu until his teacher's death in 1858. He soon married his teacher's daughter, Otatsu, and took the name Hiroshige II. Around 1865, he divorced his wife, and moved to Yokohama. During this time, he designed prints and painted tea boxes and lanterns to make a living under the names Shigenobu and Ryusho. In the years following his divorce, Hiroshige II stopped producing work. Over the course of his career, he used several different go including Hiroshige II, Ichiryusai, Ichiyusai, Kisai, Ryusai, Ryusho, and Shigenobu.
Japanese Woodblock Prints (1800 - 1868)
By the 19th century, Japanese woodblock prints achieved extraordinary popularity. While the shogunate issued a battery of censorship reforms throughout the 1800s, artists ignored and evaded restrictions with images of indulgent beauties and vibrant kabuki actors. As constraints tightened in the 1840s, bijin-ga (pictures of beautiful women) became earthier in prints by Eizan and Eisen, while kabuki actors persevered in the work of Kunisada (aka Toyokuni III). During this period, ukiyo-e artists also added landscapes, warriors, ghosts and scenes of everyday life to their oeuvre. Artists such as Hokusai and Hiroshige indulged a national wanderlust through Meisho-e or “famous place pictures,” while Kuniyoshi championed musha-e, a genre of warrior and legendary pictures.
98 Products
Hiroshige II
River-mouth near Osaka, Settsu Province
JPR-208921
