Komura Settai

Born in Kawagoe, Saitama. Real name Taisuke. He studied nihonga under Araki Kanpo in 1903 and entered the nihonga course at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts in 1904 where he studied under Shimomura Kanzan. He graduated in 1908 and worked at the studio producing the art journal Kokka, making woodblock printed copies of paintings. In 1914 he designed a cover for the novel, Nihonbashi by Izumi Kyoka. He illustrated serial novels of newspapers like ‘Osen’, ‘Odenjigoku’ for Kunieda Kanji since 1933. His unique illustration influenced by Suzuki Harunobu’s colours and Aubrey Beardsley’s black and white drawing technique, made him a very popular illustrator. His important ‘Odenjigoku’ series was commissioned by the author of the novel, for his private use. A small number of his prints were published after his death. He also worked as an art director for the theatre and as an art consultant. (The Female Image: 20th Century Prints of Japanese Beauties. Hotei Publishing, 2000).