Ippitsusai Buncho (1725?-1794?)

Couple in Snow 10.8" x 8.4" Click image for large version

Buncho, of samurai background, had been trained in the academic Kano tradition but turned to the more popular ukiyo-e school where he was active from 1765 to 1780. The dominant influences on his work were first Harunobu and later Shunsho. He produced over three hundred prints largely depicting female impersonators of the Kabuki stage. The quality that distinguishes his work from that of his contemporaries is a certain tense nervousness: a feature that makes his images somewhat disturbing, yet fascinating.

This print, Actors Segawa Kikunojo II and Ichikawa Yaozo II as a Couple Under an Umbrella in Snow, is a fabrication in that the two actors never were on the stage together in this manner. He obviously created the combination out of his own mind in order to produce an elegant atmosphere by counterpoising the girl in white with the man in black. The style attests to the pre-eminent popularity of Harunobu.

Readings: Ichitaro Kondo p. 22: not flattering; Munsterberg pps. 59-63: flattering; Michener Floating World p. 361: brief but positive; Lane p.114-116: Strong praise.