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Toshinobu

Act. c. 1718–49

Art surname: Okumura. Art names: Kakugetsudō, Bunzen.

Not many details are known about the life of Okumura Toshinobu. He was a pupil of Okumura Masanobu whose influence can be seen in Toshinobu’s designs. Apart from Masanobu’s own publishing house, the Okumuraya, Toshinobu worked for at least ten other publishers and became a prolific designer of beni-e (pink, hand colored pictures) and urushi-e (lacquer pictures). The beni-e series “Pastimes of the Four Seasons” (Shiki no asobi) that Toshinobu designed for the publisher ōmiya Kuhei dates from the 1730s. Many designs in horizontal format depict a scene either enclosed in a fan or in a stylized bean.

Toshinobu’s period of activity can only be roughly determined. His earliest designs date from 1718 and his last known work is a benizuri-e (two-color-printing) from 1742 showing the actor Sanogawa Mangiku (1690–1747) followed by the illustrations in the book “Getting Rid of Smallpox” (Hōsō-yoke) from 1749. Toshinobu specialized in pictures of beauties and actor prints in particular, concentrating on the soft acting style (wagoto) and love scenes.

c.1730 No. 1—Spring, from the series “Pleasures of the Four Seasons” (Shiki no asobi). Hosoban urushi-e. Publisher: ōmiya Kuhei. Collection Peter Rieder.

1724. The actors Ichimura Takenojō IV as Soga Gorō and Sakata Hangorō I as Kudō Suketsune in the play Yome iri Izu nikki, Ichimura Theater, I/1724. Hosoban urushi-e. Publisher: Izutsuya San’emon. National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden, The Netherlands. Mutō 2005, no. 1922.

1727 The actors Ogino Izaburō I as Sōshiya, Hayakawa Hatsuse I as Taishi, and Arashi Wakano I as Gyokuyō Fujin in an unidentified play. Hosoban urushi-e. Publisher: Iseya Kinbei. Asian Art Museum, National Museums in Berlin. Mutō 2005, no. 1950.

c.1720s/30s Three beauties from Kyoto (top), Edo (right), and Osaka (left). Hosoban beni-e. Publisher: Masuya. Collection Peter Rieder.