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Shunkō

1743–1812

Family name: Kiyokawa. Given name: Denjirō. Art surname: Katsukawa. Art names: Sahitsusai (from 1791); Sahitsuan. Small jar-shaped seal with the character “ki” (wood).

Shunkō lived in Nihonbashi Hasegawachō. He is believed to have been Shunshō’s earliest student. His first works seems to be illustrations to the book “Talks about Debut Plays” (Kaomise shibai banashi), dated to 1766. Around 1771 he started to design actor prints and soon acquired the nickname “Small Jar” (Kotsubo) because he used a small jar seal on his prints with the character “ki” as signature, following his teacher’s large jar seal with inscribed “rin.”

Like his teacher Shunshō, Shunkō concentrated on actor prints and developed a distinctive style. The majority of his prints were in the narrow hosoban format. In 1780, he experimented with close-up portraits of actors in aiban format and two such prints were produced. But it was not until 1788 when he designed the first bust portraits in the ōban format, forerunners for the renowned designs by Sharaku and others in the 1790s.

Shunkō created also a number of sumo wrestler pictures, a motif that suited his powerful drawing style. In the late 1780s he suffered a stroke and was no longer able to use his right arm. He ceased designing prints but continued to paint. He passed away in 1812, aged 70. He is buried at the Zenshōji in Asakusa and his posthumous Buddhist name is Shaku Shunkō Shinji.

early 1780s The actors Ichikawa Danjūrō V (right) and Nakamura Rikō I (left) in unidentified roles. Hosoban nishiki-e diptych. Collection Peter Rieder.

1787 The actor Sawamura Sōjūrō III as Oda Izuminosuke in the play Keisei Ide no yamabuki, Nakamura Theater, IV/1787. Hosoban nishiki-e. Collection Arendie and Henk Herwig.

1788 The wrestlers Itsukushima, Koshinoto and Takinoue at the Sumo Spring Tournament in IV/1788. ōban. Publisher: Toyoshimaya Bunjiemon. Collection Peter Rieder.

c.1780s The actor Bandō Mitsugorō II in an unidentified dance role. Hosoban nishiki-e. Asian Art Museum, National Museums in Berlin.

1794 The actor Onoe Matsusuke I as Ashikaga Takauji in the play Matsu wa misao onna kusunoki, Kawarazaki Theater, XI/1794. Hosoban nishiki-e. Library of Congress.