Information
Date : 1887
Size : O-ban / Triptych
Impression : Good
Condition : Good
Detail : Slight browning / Side fold / Restored very small wormholes
Chikanobu used to use the name YoshitsuruⅡ, however, he became a pupil of ToyokuniⅡafter Kuniyoshi died, and after ToyokuniⅢ died, he became a pupil of Kunichika. Then, finally, his name became Chikanobu.
He was famous for the motif of beauties, however, one of the seeds that grow into a flowering of his art-life was the warrior prints and war prints of the Seinan War. After that, he started creating the artworks of Ooku, the shogun's harem, and the lady portrait in the civilization of the Meiji era. It raised his reputation. People had called his artworks "The second Edo Ukiyo-e", and he was one of the most popular artists whose motif is beauties.
Under the full-blooming plum blossoms, the ladies who are wearing western dresses are singing a song. Leaning on the sofa at the center of the composition and listening to it, could it be a prince, considering the era? The culture of Japan had changed suddenly, from Edo-era to Meiji-era, and the artists depicted them, flexibly.