Prints in Collection
Biographical Data
Biography
Hanpo 半哺 (active 1904-1912)
While Merritt tells us in Guide to Modern Japanese Prints1 that the print artist who signed his name Hanpo on a 1912 print of the funeral procession for Emperor Meiji is one and the same as the nanga painter Yasuda Hanpo 安田半圃 (1889-1947), they are not the same artist. While the signatures on the prints incorrectly attributed to Yasuda Hanpo are read "Hanpo" they are signed with the characters 半哺 rather than the characters 半圃 appearing on his paintings. (See examples below.) In addition, the 1889 date of birth of Yasuda Hanpo the nanga painter would have made him only fifteen years old when the Russo-Japanese War prints attributed to him were issued in 1904. (See examples below taken from the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.)
So, we are left with another artist who is known only by his signature appearing on several prints created during the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War and then seven years later on two prints depicting the 1912 funeral procession of Emperor Meiji.
1 Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: 1900-1975, Helen Merritt, University of Hawaii Press, 1992, p.173
Signatures and Seals Appearing on Woodblock Prints Incorrectly Attributed to Yasuda Hanpo
 半哺謹画 Hanpo kinga (respectfully drawn) with hōtō seal 奉悼 |  Hanpo kinga (respectfully drawn) |  半圃 Hanpo with Hanpo no in seal 半哺之印 (seal of Hanpō) |  半哺 Hanpo with seal reading kanda ko 神田子 |
Signatures and Seals Appearing on Scrolls (ink on silk) Correctly Attributed to Yasuda Hanpo
 半圃 ? Hanpo followed by unread character with unread seals |  半圃 ? Hanpo followed by unread character with unread seals |  半圃 ? Hanpo followed by unread character with unread seals |
Examples of the Artist's Russo-Japanese War Woodblock Prints Incorrectly Attributed to Yasuda Hanpo
Artist Yasuda Hanpo (Japanese, 1889–1947), Publisher Sawa Hisajirô
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 2000.72a-f
Illustration of the Eighth Attack on Port Arthur: The Flagship of Russia Was Destroyed
by the Torpedo of Our Navy and Admiral Makarov Drowned, 1904
Artist Yasuda Hanpo (Japanese, 1889–1947), Publisher Sawa Hisajirô
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 2000.70a-c
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