Toyohara Chikanobu (豊原周延), better known to his contemporaries as Yōshū Chikanobu (楊洲周延), was a Japanese painter and printmaker who was widely regarded as a prolific woodblock artist during the Meiji epoch.

Names

Chikanobu signed his artwork "Yōshū Chikanobu" (楊洲周延). This was his "art name" (作品名). The artist's "real name" (本名) was Hashimoto Naoyoshi (橋本直義); and it was published in his obituary.<ref name="miyako_shimbun8847">See "Yōshū Chikanobu [obituary]," Miyako Shimbun, No. 8847 (October 2, 1912). p. 195: "Yōshū Chikanobu, who represented in nishiki-e the Great Interior of the Chiyoda Castle and was famous as a master of bijin-ga, had retired to Shimo-Ōsaki at the foot of Goten-yama five years ago and led an elegant life away from the world, but suffered from stomach cancer starting this past June, and finally died on the night of September 28th at the age of seventy-five. His real name being Hashimoto Naoyoshi, he was a retainer of the Sakakibara clan of Takada domain in Echigo province. After the collapse of the Tokugawa Shogunate, he joined the Shōgitai and fought in the Battle of Ueno. After the defeat at Ueno, he fled to Hakodate, Hokkaidō, fought in the Battle of Hakodate at the Goryōkaku star fort under the leadership of Enomoto Takeaki and Ōtori Keisuke achieving fame for his bravery. But following the Shōgitai's surrender, he was handed over to the authorities in the Takada domain. In the eighth year of Meiji, with the intention of making a living in the way that he was fond of, went to the capital and lived in Yushima-Tenjin town. He became an artist for the Kaishin Shimbun, and on the side, produced many nishiki-e pieces. Regarding his artistic background: when he was younger he studied the Kanō school of painting, but later switched to ukiyo-e and studied with a disciple of Keisai Eisen; and next joining the school of Utagawa Kuniyoshi, called himself Yoshitsuru. After Kuniyoshi's death, he studied with Kunisada. Later he studied nigao-e with Toyohara Kunichika, and called himself Isshunsai Chikanobu. He also referred to himself as Yōshū. Among his disciples were Nobukazu (楊斎延一) and Gyokuei (楊堂玉英) as a painter of images on fans (uchiwa-e), and several others. Gyokuei produced Kajita Hanko. Since only Nobukazu now is in good health, there is no one to succeed to Chikanobu's bijin-ga, and thus Edo-e, after the death of Kunichika, has perished with Chikanobu. It is most regrettable." — trans. by Kyoko Iriye Selden (October 2, 1936, Tokyo-January 20, 2013, Ithaca), Senior Lecturer, Department of Asian Studies, Cornell University, ret'd. Many of his earliest works were signed "studio of Yōshū Chikanobu" (楊洲齋周延); a small number of his early creations were simply signed "Yōshū" (楊洲). At least one triptych from 12 Meiji (1879) exists signed "Yōshū Naoyoshi" (楊洲直義). The portrait of the Emperor Meiji held by the British Museum is inscribed "drawn by Yōshū Chikanobu by special request" (應需楊洲周延筆). No works have surfaced that are signed either "Toyohara Chikanobu" or "Hashimoto Chikanobu".

Military career

Chikanobu was a retainer of the Sakakibara clan of Takada Domain in Echigo Province. After the collapse of the Tokugawa Shogunate, he joined the Shōgitai and fought in the Battle of Ueno. He joined Tokugawa loyalists in Hakodate, Hokkaidō, where he fought in the Battle of Hakodate at the Goryōkaku star fort. He served under the leadership of Enomoto Takeaki and Ōtori Keisuke; and he achieved fame for his bravery. Following the Shōgitai's surrender, he was remanded along with others to the authorities in the Takada domain.

Artistic career

In 1875 (Meiji 8), he decided to try to make a living as an artist. He travelled to Tokyo. He found work as an artist for the ''Kaishin Shimbun. '' In addition, he produced nishiki-e artworks. In his younger days, he had studied the Kanō school of painting; but his interest was drawn to ukiyo-e. He studied with a disciple of Keisai Eisen and then he joined the school of Ichiyūsai Kuniyoshi; during this period, he called himself Yoshitsuru. After Kuniyoshi's death, he studied with Kunisada. He also referred to himself as Yōshū. Like many ukiyo-e artists, Chikanobu turned his attention towards a great variety of subjects. His work ranged from Japanese mythology to depictions of the battlefields of his lifetime to women's fashions. As well as a number of the other artists of this period, he too portrayed kabuki actors in character, and is well known for his impressions of the mie (mise en scène) of kabuki productions. Chikanobu was known as a master of bijinga. images of beautiful women, and for illustrating changes in women's fashion, including both traditional and Western clothing. His work illustrated the changes in coiffures and make-up across time. For example, in Chikanobu's images in Mirror of Ages (1897), the hair styles of the Tenmei era, 1781-1789 are distinguished from those of the Keiō era, 1865-1867. His works capture the transition from the age of the samurai to Meiji modernity, the artistic chaos of the Meiji period exemplifying the concept of "furumekashii/imamekashii". Chikanobu is a recognizable Meiji period artist, but his subjects were sometimes drawn from earlier historical eras. For example, one print illustrates an incident during the 1855 Ansei Edo earthquake. The early Meiji period was marked by clashes between disputing samurai forces with differing views about ending Japan's self-imposed isolation and about the changing relationship between the Imperial court and the Tokugawa shogunate. He created a range of impressions and scenes of the Satsuma Rebellion and Saigō Takamori. Some of these prints illustrated the period of domestic unrest and other subjects of topical interest, including prints like the 1882 image of the Imo Incident, also known as the Jingo Incident (壬午事変) at right. The greatest number of Chikanobu's war prints (戦争絵) appeared in triptych format. These works documented the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. For example, the "Victory at Asan" was published with a contemporaneous account of the July 29, 1894 battle. Among those influenced by Chikanobu were Nobukazu (楊斎延一) and Gyokuei (楊堂玉英).

Genres

Battle scenes

Examples of battle scenes (戦争絵) include: Examples of scenes from this war include:

Warrior prints

Examples of warrior prints (武者絵) include:

Beauty pictures

Examples of "beauty pictures" (美人画) include:

Historical pictures

Examples of historical scenes (史教画) include: Recent (Meiji era) history

Famous places

Examples of scenic spots (名所絵) include:

Portraits

Examples of portraits (肖像画) include:

Enlightenment pictures

Examples of "enlightenment pictures" (文明開化絵) include:

Theatre scenes

Examples of "kabuki scenes/actor portraits" (役者絵) include:

Memorial prints

Examples of "Memorial prints" (死絵) include:

Women's pastimes

Examples of "Etiquette and Manners for Women" (女禮式) include:

Emperor Meiji pictures

Examples of Emperor Meiji relaxing include:

Contrast pictures

Examples of "Contrast prints" (見立絵) include:

Glorification of the Geisha

Examples of this genre include:

Formats

Like the majority of his contemporaries, he worked mostly in the ōban tate-e format. There are quite a number of single panel series, as well as many other prints in this format which are not a part of any series. He produced several series in the ōban yoko-e format, which were usually then folded cross-wise to produce an album. Although he is, perhaps, best known for his triptychs, single topics and series, two diptych series are known as well. There are, at least, three polyptych prints known. His signature may also be found in the line drawings and illustrations in a number of ehon (絵本), which were mostly of a historical nature. In addition, there are fan prints uchiwa-e (団扇絵), as well as number of sheets of sugoroku (すごろく) with his signature that still exist and at least three prints in the kakemono-e format were produced in his latter years.

Selected works

In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Hashimoto Toyohara, OCLC/WorldCat encompasses roughly 300+ works in 300+ publications in 2 languages and 700+ library holdings