Читать книгу Japanese Woodblock Prints - Andreas Marks - Страница 39

Sharaku

Act. 1794–1795

Art name: Tōshūsai.

No biographical information on Sharaku is available, leaving him as the most enigmatic and nebulous of all print artists. Known only through his oeuvre, various theories have been expressed that identify him as another artist, using the name “Tōshūsai Sharaku” as an artistic name for a short period. This name, indeed, appears only for a very short period of time, from the fifth month of 1794 until the first month of 1795. In this period, he created 145 prints, all published by Tsutaya Jūzaburō. The designs can be divided into four periods; the first encompasses dazzling ōkubi-e (large-head pictures) portraits in ōban format, all related to plays staged in the fifth month of 1794. For these prints expensive printing techniques and material such as mica for shiny backgrounds were used. The second period covers full-length portraits in the large ōban format or the narrow hosoban format, all dated with the seventh month of 1794. A drop of quality is seen in the third and fourth period. Hosoban and aiban format prints for the eleventh month of 1794 are considered as third period, and the hosoban prints from the first month of 1795 are considered as fourth period.