Nishimura Shigenaga
According to Sekine (Sekine Tadanobu, Meijin Kishinroku, 1894) Shigenaga died in his sixties on the twenty-seventh day of the sixth month of 1756, but this statement needs to be confirmed. His art names were Senkadö, Eikadö, and Hyakuju. According to the Ukiyo-e Ruikö, he was a landlord in Töri Abura-chö and later moved to the Kanda district of Edo. There, he managed a bookstore.
Shigenaga worked from the Kyöhö era (1716-1736) to the Höreki era (1751-1763), designing many urushi-e and a few benizuri-e. His early work during the Kyöhö era is mostly of kabuki actors done in the pervasive Torii style. He eventually created a new style, however, combining the sensual and more flowing character of the art of Nishikawa Sukenobu and Okumura Masanobu with his own early Torii forms.
Richard Lane (Images, p. 84) notes that Shigenaga contributed nearly equally to the progress of ukiyo-e during the transitional period from hand-coloring to color-printing as did Masanobu. Like Masanobu, Shigenaga experimented in uki-e (Western one-point perspective prints), the triptych form, the ishizuri-e (stone-rubbing), mizu-e (water prints) and abuna-e (semi-nude). But perhaps his most important achievement, one that is his alone, is the introduction of the landscape as a subject for ukiyo-e. The various “eight views” prints created by Shigenaga, mark the beginning of the landscape as a separate form in ukiyo-e. As Lane rightly suggests (Images, p. 84): “A century divides Shigenaga and Hiroshige, but the latter owes more than is usually thought to this pioneer of ukiyo-e landscape.”
His students may have included such important artists as Toyonobu and Harunobu. The Michener Collection is represented by fourteen fine prints ranging in date from the late 1720s to the mid-1750s.
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Sekine Tadanobu indicates that Shigenaga died in his sixties on the 27th day, sixth month of Höreki Six (1756), but this statement needs to be confirmed (see Sekine Tadanobu, "Meijiro kishin roku," 1894). His art names were Senkadö, Eikadö, and Hyakuju. According to the "Ukiyo-e Ruikö," he was a landlord in Töri Abura-chö later moving to the Kanda district of Edo, where he managed a bookstore.
Shigenaga worked during the Kyöhö (1716-1736) and the Höreki (1751-1759) eras, designing many "urushi-e" and a few "benizuri-e." His early work during the Kyöhö era is mostly of "kabuki" actors, done in the persuasive Torii style. He eventually created a new style, however, combining the sensual and more flowing character of the art of Nishikawa Sukenobu and Okumura Masanobu with his own early Torii forms. It is curious to note that Shigenaga usually signed his prints with the character "ga," although most artists of the "urushi-e" period preferred "hitsu" or "zu." His students may have included such important artists as Toyonobu and Harunobu. The Michener Collection is represented by fourteen fine prints ranging in date from the late 1720s to the mid-1750s.
BIOGRAPHY: Shigenaga (1697-1756) was probably a Keeper of a bookstore in Kanda, Edo. He was apparently self-taught as an artist, but evidently influenced by Kiyonobu and Masanobu. Critics have accused him of being a "faded and weakened Masanobu" because of an unevenness in his art. But some of his prints display a very high level indeed. He was a teacher of considerable success, and among his pupils were Toyonobu and Harunobu.
We would suggest that students of ukiyo-e approach the dates listed in our summary with caution. The dates, which have become currently acceptable in ukiyo-e treatises, are based on a statement made by Sekine in 1894 (e.g. Shigenaga died on the 27th day, 6th month of Höreki 6 (1756, at the age of over 60). The information is not repeated elsewhere and needs verification. His art names include Senkadö, Eikadö, and on at least one print, Hyakuju. According to Nakada's edition of the "Ukiyo-e Ruikö," 1941 (which claims to distinguish the additions made to the original work by later editors), he was a property owner in Töri-abura-chö, and that he later moved to Kanda as a book dealer. His print subjects include almost all those undertaken by Masanobu. His work, however, lacked the strength of his contemporary.
SUMMARY: Our artist was probably a keeper of a bookstore in Kanda, Edo (Old Tokyo). He was self-taught as an artist, but evidently influenced by the Torii and Masanobu. Critics have accused him of being "a faded and weakened Masanobu" because of the unevenness in his art. But some of his prints display a very high level indeed. He was a teacher of considerable success, and among his pupils were Toyonobu, and perhaps Harunobu.
Research by: Howard A. Link.
