Hishikawa Harunobu (active 1875-1891)

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Prints in Collection

Table of Contents from the series Instructive Models of Lofty Ambition,
c. 1890
IHL Cat. #1071

Biographical Data

Biography

Hishikawa Harunobu 菱川春宣 (active 1875-1891)
Possibly a member of the Hishikawa school founded by Hishikawa Moronobu (1618-1694), no information seems to exist about this artist, other than he created a number of sumo prints and one triptych picturing Momotaro, the legendary Peach Boy, as shown below. The Romanization of his given name varies and at the suggestion of Maribeth Graybill, The Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Curator of Asian Artt at the Portland Art Museum, I have used Harunobu [ハルノブ], which is how the website of the Chiba City Museum of Art shows his name. Other Romanizations of his name include Hishikawa Syunsen, Hishikawa Shunsen and Hishikawa Harusen.

The artist worked for several publishers including Matsuki Heikichi, the publisher of this collection's print, Table of Contents for the series Instructive Models of Lofty Ambition. He designed at least one sumo print for Heikichi.

A Few of the Artist's Works

平ノ戸三ノ助
The wrestler Hiranoto Sannosuke 1875
Chiba City Museum of Art
The wrestlers 木村庄之助 [Kimura Shōnosuke], 綾浪徳太郎 [Ayanami Tokutarō], 西ノ海嘉治郎 [Nishinoumi Kajirō],
千年川正又吉 (Chitosegawa ?], 高砂 [Takasago]

伽噺桃太郎 [The Story of Momotaro - The Peach Boy], 1890

Sample Signatures and Seals

Hishikawa Harunobu hitsu
Hishikawa Harunobu hitsu
Hishikawa Harunobu followed by an unread character
bottom seal reading 書画之印 (shoga no in - paintings and writings of calligraphy)
top seal reading 春宣 (Harunobu)

Subpages (1):Table of Contents from the series Instructive Models of Lofty Ambition