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September 2022

Important Japanese Prints and Paintings of the Late Eighteenth Century

September 16–23, 2022
(closed Sunday, September18)
11 AM to 5 PM, by appointment only

17 East 76th Street, 3rd Floor,
New York 10021


Tel: 212-794-1522
Email: info@izzardasianart.com





September 2022 Exhibition

Japanese prints and paintings of the last years of the eighteenth century are the focus of the fall exhibition at Sebastian Izzard LLC Asian Art. This was the decade of the ōkubi-e—defined as head and shoulder portraits—of both men and women, usually actors or courtesans and famous beauties of the day. Although not part of the Asian pictorial tradition, portrait heads of actors began to make their appearance on fan prints, and on fan-shaped cartouches on larger prints, from the 1720s onwards. It was not until around 1770 that the format was popularized. From around 1775 Katsukawa Shunshō (1726–1792) made large prints of actors that were designed to be cut out and mounted as folding fans and in the early 1780s, he made aiban-size, half-length portraits. His student Katsukawa Shunkō (1743‒1812) followed his lead by making similar half-length images of actors in the same format, and then followed up with his major contribution to ukiyo-e, the first full-size ōban tate-e ōkubi-e.

The authorities seem to have regarded ōkubi-e with some suspicion, objecting that artists were making their subjects “conspicuous.” Throughout the 1790s restrictions were imposed on this type of print, culminating in 1800 with an outright ban on “large head” portraits of women. When these regulations were ignored, the ban was expanded to include portraits of both men and women. Artists and their publishers responded to the regulations invarious ingenious ways, always seeking to stretch the rules to appeal to a sophisticated market eager for something new.

The exhibition will also include rare prints by Kitagawa Utamaro (1754‒1806), Katsukawa Shun’ei (1762‒1819), Chōkōsai Eishō (act. ca. 1780‒1800), Utagawa Kunimasa (1773‒1810), Tōshūsai Sharaku (act. 1794‒95), and Utagawa Toyokuni (1769‒1825), as well as a select group of ukiyo-e beauty paintings by Shiba Kōkan (1748‒1818), Aoki Masatada (act. ca. 1790‒1830), and Toyokuni.

A selection of works from the exhibition may be viewed here.

A fully illustrated catalogue accompanies this exhibition.



Attributed to Suzuki Harunobu
(1724–1770)

The Heron Maiden (Sagi musume)

Color woodblock print: chūban tate-e, 11 x 8⅜ in. (27.9 x 21.3 cm); ca. 1766–67
Unsigned

Suzuki Harunobu
(1724–1770)

Woman Treading Cloth in a Stream

Color woodblock print: chūban tate-e, 11¼ x 8¼ in. (28.6 x 21 cm); 1768
Series: Fashionable Eight Views of Edo (Fūryū Edo hakkei)
Signed: Suzuki Harunobu ga

Shiba Kōkan
(1747–1818)

Beauty Standing by a Gate

Hanging scroll: ink, color, and gold pigment on silk, 40 x 15¾ in. (101.6 x 40 cm); An’ei era, ca. 1774‒76
Signed: Kōkan Shiba Shun
Sealed: Kun Gaku

Katsukawa Shunshō
(1726–1792)

Yamashita Kinsaku II

Color woodblock print: baiōban yoko-e, 17¾ x 12⅞ in. (45.1 x 32.7 cm); ca. 1775
Signed: Shunshō ga
Series: Fans of the East (Azuma Ōgi)
Publisher: Iwatoya Genpachi
Provenance: Werner Schindler

Katsukawa Shunkō
(1743–1812)

Portrait of the Actor Nakamura Nakazō I as Kudō Suketsune

Color woodblock print: ōban tate, 14⅝ x 9¾ in. (37.1 x 24.8 cm); 1788–90
Signed: Shunkō ga
Provenance: Henri Vever

Attributed to Kitagawa Utamaro
(1754–1806)

Lovers in a Private Room in a Teahouse

Color woodblock print;ōban yoko-e, 10½ x 15 in. (26.7 x 38.1 cm); 1788
Plate from the albumThe Poems of the Pillow (Utamakura)
Unsigned
Publisher: [Kōshodō (Tsutaya Jūzaburō)]

Kitagawa Utamaro
(1754–1806)

The Interesting Type (Omoshiroki sō)

Color woodblock print, with mica ground: ōban tate-e, 15⅛ x 9⅞ in. (38.4 x 25.1 cm); ca. 1792–93
Signed: Somi (the physiognomist) Utamaro hitsu
Series: Ten Types in the Physiognomic Study of Women (Fujin sōgaku juttai)
Censor’s seal: kiwame (approved)
Publisher: Kōshodō (Tsutaya Jūzaburō)
Provenance: Murata Kimbei; H.P. Garland of Saco, Maine; Louis V. Ledoux

Kitagawa Utamaro
(1754–1806)

Takashima Ohisa

Color woodblock print, with mica ground: ōban tate-e, 14¾ x 9⅞ in. (37.5 x 25.1 cm); ca. 1792–93
Signed: Utamaro hitsu
Censor’s seal: kiwame (approved)
Publisher: Kōshodō (Tsutaya Jūzaburō)

Kitagawa Utamaro
(1754–1806)

Geisha as Fuku and Kame (Fuku, Kame)

Color woodblock print: aiban tate-e, 13 x 9 in. (33 x 22.9 cm); ca. 1793–94
Signed: Utamaro hitsu
Series: The Men in the Moon: The Niwaka Festival of the Pleasure Quarter (Seirō Niwaka tsuki no katsurao)
Publisher: Senkakudō (Tsuruya Kiemon)

Kitagawa Utamaro
(1754–1806)

“The Stone Bridge” (Shakkyō)

Color woodblock print, with mica ground: ōban tate-e, 14⅛ x 9½ in. (35.9 x 24.1 cm); ca. 1793–94
Signed: Utamaro hitsu
Series: An Array of Modern Dancing Girls(Tōsei odoriko-zoroe)
Publisher: Kōshodō (Tsutaya Jüzaburō)
Provenance: Henri Vever

Kitagawa Utamaro
(1754–1806)

Wistful Love (Mono-omou koi)

Color woodblock print, with mica ground: ōban tate-e, 14¼ x 9½ in. (36.2 x 24.1 cm); ca. 1793–94
Series: Anthology of Poems of the Theme of Love (Kasen koi no bu)
Signed: Utamaro hitsu Publisher: Kōshodō (Tsutaya Jūzaburō)
Provenance: Kiyoshi Shibui; Lee E. Dirks

Katsukawa Shun’ei
(1762−1819)

Ichikawa Ebizō [Danjūrō V] as Akushichibyoe Kagekiyo Disguised as a Woodsman

Color woodblock print, with mica ground: aiban tate-e, 12½ x 8¼ in. (31.8 x 21 cm); ca. 1794
Signed: Shun’ei ga
Censor’s seal: kiwame (approved)
Publisher: Emiya Kichiemon

Toshūsai Sharaku
(active ca. 1794–95)

Ōtani Tokuji as Sodesuke, a Retainer

Color woodblock print, with mica ground: ōban tate-e, 14¼ x 9⅝ in. (36.2 x 24.6 cm.); 5/1794
Signed: Toshūsai Sharaku ga
Censor’s seal: kiwame (approved)
Publisher: Kōshodō (Tsutaya Jūzaburō)

Toshūsai Sharaku
(active ca. 1794–95)

Arashi Ryūzō II as Ishibe Kinkichi

Color woodblock print, with mica ground: ōban tate-e, 14½ x 9⅞ in. (36.8 x 25.1 cm); 1794
Signed: Tōshūsai Sharaku ga
Censor’s seal: kiwame (approved)
Publisher: Kōshodō (Tsutaya Jūzaburō)
Provenance: Theodor Scheiwe

Toshūsai Sharaku
(active ca. 1794–95)

Sakata Hangorō III as Fujikawa Mizuemon

Color woodblock print, with mica ground: ōban tate-e, 15⅛ x 10⅛ in. (38.4 x 25.7 cm); 1794
Signed: Tōshūsai Sharaku ga
Censor’s seal: kiwame (approved)
Publisher: Kōshodō (Tsutaya Jūzaburō)
Provenance: Theodor Scheiwe

Chōkōsai Eishō
(active ca. 1780–1800)

Wakamurasaki of the Kado Tamaya (Kado Tamaya Wakamurasaki)

Color woodblock print: ōban tate-e, 15⅜ x 10¼ in. (39.1 x 26 cm); ca. 1794–96
Series: Comparison of Beauties of the Pleasure Quarters (Kakuchū bijin kurabe)
Signed: Chōkōsai Eishō ga
Publisher: Yamaguchiya Chūsuke

Hosoda Eiu (active ca. mid 1790s)

Fumikoshi of the Gomeirō (Gomeirō Fumikoshi)

Color woodblock print, with mica ground: ōban tate-e, 15¼ x 10 in. (38.7 x 25.4 cm); ca. 1794–96
Series: Collection of Beauties of the Green Houses (Seirō bijin awase)
Signed: Eiu ga

Aoki Masatada
(Active ca. 1790–1830)

Courtesan on Parade

Hanging scroll: ink, color, and gold pigment on paper; 48 x 20 in. (121.9 x 50.8 cm); circa 1795
Signed: Aoki Masatada ga
Sealed: Aoki Masatada and Shichoku
Poem signed: Ichijō Kankyaku

Katsukawa Shun’ei
(1762−1819)

Ichikawa Ebizō [Danjūrō V] as Mita no Tsugō, Governor of Musashi, disguised as Yamagatsu Kirikabu no Yokizō

Color woodblock print: ōban tate-e, 14⅛ x 10 in. (35.9 x 25.4 cm); ca. 1795/96
Signed: Shun’ei ga
Censor’s seal: kiwame (approved)
Publisher: Uemura Yohei

Utagawa Toyokuni
(1769−1825)

Ichikawa Komazō III as Sasaki Ganryū

Color woodblock print: ōban tate-e, 14⅛ x 9⅜ in. (36 x 23.8 cm); ca. 1796
Signed: Toyokuni ga
Censor’s seal: kiwame(approved)
Publisher: Uemura Yohei

Utagawa Kunimasa
(1773−1810)

Matsumoto Yonesaburō as Fuwa Shozaemon's Daughter (?)

Color woodblock print: ōban tate-e, 14⅞ x 9¾ in. (37.8 x 24.8 cm); 4/1796
Signed: Kunimasa ga
Censor’s seal: kiwame (approved)
Publisher: Uemura Yohei

Utagawa Toyokuni
(1769–1825)

Ichikawa Omezō I as Sekibei

Color woodblock print: ōban tate-e, 14½ x 9¾ in. (36.8 x 24.8 cm); 1803
Series: Untitled series ofōkubi-eportraits
Signed: Toyokuni ga
Publisher: Matsumura Tatsuemon

Utagawa Toyokuni
(1769–1825)

Courtesan Tying Her Obi

Courtesan Tying Her Obi Hanging scroll: ink, color, and gold pigment on silk, 36¼ x 13¼ in. (92.0 x 33.6 cm); ca. 1805‒10
Signed: Utagawa Toyokuni ga
Sealed: Ichiyōsai
Provenance: Itō Shinsui (1898–1972)