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60
Japanese Colour-Prints
but did not execute them in the usual xylographic manner, with sharp outlines, but as hasty brush-sketches with rich liquid colouring, of which he simply had facsimiles made. Thus he became the originator of those numerous reproductions of sketches which, like those of Hokusai's Mangwa, appeared in the nineteenth century.
Of his works, we may name the following:[1]—
- Yehon kwacho kagami. 1789. Coloured reproductions after flowers and birds, which are copied from the drawings of a Chinese artist (Siebold Collection).
- Shoshoku yekagami. 1794. Model sketches for artists. Later editions are less valuable.
- Jimbutsu riakugwashiki. Various sketches. First series 1795, second 1799. Coloured.
- Shuki Ichi futsu. Sketches. 1800. Coloured.
- Sansui riakuzushiki. 1800.
- Giobai riakugwashiki. Fish and shells. Small fol. 1802. 30 coloured double sheets of rich colouring. A marvel of art, grand in style, and of delicate rich tone; printed with great care. New edition, 1860.
- Riakugwayen. Slight sketches. 1809. Coloured.
- Kwa riakugwashiki. Quarto. Yedo, 1813. Flowers and shrubs. 27 double sheets, coloured.
- Landscapes, 3 vols., containing 20 sheets. Of no special interest.
- Shoshoku gwakio. Yedo, 1794. Black and white.
- Gengwa yen. Yedo, 1808. Coloured figure pieces.
- Keisai gwafu. 60 coloured compositions.
Most of these works are executed in a few bold colours, broadly laid on, often without any sort of contour. The artist, of whom we shall have more to say at the end of the chapter on Kiyonaga, is in this line of work the continuer of Morikuni.
We have similar sketches in rapid brushwork dating from the end of the eighteenth century by Gokan (1784),[2] Hasegawa