Tanaka Masunobu

active 1740s

BiographyThe signature of Tanaka Masanobu appears on a number of fine ishizuri-e and uki-e prints done in the style of Okumura Masanobu and dated to the 1740s and 1750s. His signature usually reads “Sanseidö Tanaka Masunobu.” Beyond these few prints, nothing is known of the artist. Some scholars have suggested that he was a pupil of Okumura Masanobu because of his style. Still others equate him with a later Masunobu who worked in the 1770s (alternate name Zanshisai) who produced delicate full-color prints in the manner of Harunobu. In this database, Tanaka Masunobu is represented by one ishizuri-e, and the later Masunobu by three full-color prints. This is not to suggest that these prints may not be by the same artist. They are treated independently until definitive incontrovertible evidence has been found to prove otherwise. For example, according to one manuscript of the Ukiyo-e Ruikö, an artist named Masunobu lived in the Rögoku district of Edo and was active as author, artist, and illustrator from the 1740s to the early 1800s. This statement provides scholarship with an artist whose years correspond with the dates of the Tanaka and Zenshinsai prints, but not the direct link required to prove that they are one and the same person.

- - - - - - -
A few prints signed Tanaka Masunobu survive, but nothing is known of the artist who used the signature. In the 1740s he produced some fine "ishizuri-e" (Masunobu No. 1) and "uki-e" prints in the Okumura style, usually signed "Miharundo Tanaka Masunobu". Some scholars have suggested that he was a pupil of Okumura Masanobu. The Michener Collection owns one print by this little-known master.

***********************************
Research by: Howard A. Link

Person TypeIndividual