Yamamoto Fujinobu

Fujinobu designed a few "benizuri-e" and "nishiki-e" prints in the 1750s and 1760s. Judging from his early style, he may have been a pupil of Toyonobu. Since many of his works were published by Maruya Kohei, who used the literary name Yamamoto Shöbei for his occasional essays, it has been seriously suggested that Yamamoto Fujinobu is merely another "nom de plume" for this famous publisher. He designed both "yakushu-e" and "bijin-ga."

SUMMARY: Here we have an artist whose biography is so obscure that we are forced to consider whether he actually existed. The current theory is that the name is an alias of the "ukiyo-e" publisher Yamamoto Kohei whose trademark is usually given as Maruya. The basis for this theory, which seems a good one, is that our publisher used the same alias for his occasional essays in the creative field.

Research by: Howard A. Link.