Natori Shunsen
{{Short description|Japanese woodblock printer}}
{{nihongo|Shunsen Natori|名取春仙|Natori Shunsen|February 7, 1886 – March 30, 1960}} was a Japanese woodblock printer, considered by many to be the last master in the art of kabuki yakusha-e "actor pictures".
Biography
He was born Natori Yoshinosuke, the fifth son of a silk merchant, in Yamanashi Prefecture. His family settled in Tokyo shortly after his birth, where he remained until his death in 1960.[http://www.myjapanesehanga.com/home/artists/natori-shunsen-1886---1960- Natori Shunsen (1886-1960)] The Lavenberg Collection of Japanese Prints
From the age of eleven he studied with traditional Nihonga (Japanese-style) painter Kubota Beisen, and was given his artist's name "Shunsen". He subsequently studied at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts.
Natori Shunsen developed an interest in kabuki actor portraits while working as an illustrator for the newspaper Asahi Shimbun. During this time, he had the opportunity to meet the publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō, who was the primary force behind the shin-hanga movement.
In 1925, Natori and Watanabe worked together on a series of 36 actor portraits. This series contains some of Natori's finest kabuki designs. Watanabe lavishly produced each print in a limited edition of 150 and sold them only by subscription. The series lasted through 1929, followed by a supplemental series of 15 actor prints produced through 1931.
Natori's actor portraits were mainly in the ōkubi-e (large head) format which allowed him to focus on the expression and emotions of the character's face.
He continued to work as an artist in the kabuki theater, but did not design any other actor prints until the early 1950s. From 1951 to 1954, he again collaborated with Watanabe on another series of 30 actor prints. Like the earlier series, these designs were beautifully printed and are very expressive, especially the ōkubi-e portrait.
His 22-year-old daughter died of pneumonia in 1958. He and his wife committed suicide by poison at their daughter's grave two years later.{{cite web|url=http://www.artelino.com/articles/shin_hanga.asp |title=Shin Hanga |website=Artelino.com |date= |access-date=2016-09-15}}
His works are held in several museums worldwide, including the British Museum,{{Cite web|title=print {{!}} British Museum|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1986-1111-0-2|access-date=2021-01-12|website=The British Museum|language=en}} the Portland Art Museum,{{Cite web|title=Bandō Mitsugorō VII as Yari yakko, from the series Shinpan butai no sugata-e (New Stage Portraits)|url=http://portlandartmuseum.us/mwebcgi/mweb.exe?request=record;id=56886;type=101|access-date=2021-01-12|website=portlandartmuseum.us}} the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,{{Cite web|title=Actor Ichikawa Ennosuke II as Kakudayû, from the series Collection of Portraits by Shunsen (Shunsen nigaoe shû)|url=https://collections.mfa.org/objects/261206/actor-ichikawa-ennosuke-ii-as-kakudayu-from-the-series-coll;jsessionid=1FA6269ECA40E1A517743F17113606E8|access-date=2021-01-12|website=collections.mfa.org|language=en}} the Museum of New Zealand,{{Cite web|title=Collections Online - Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa|url=https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/1528130|access-date=2021-01-12|website=collections.tepapa.govt.nz}} the Carnegie Museum of Art,{{Cite web|title=CMOA Collection|url=https://collection.cmoa.org/objects/1d731a04-c417-4f3b-a9ad-f78b407ed2fc?page=1&perPage=10|access-date=2021-01-12|website=collection.cmoa.org|language=en}} the Indianapolis Museum of Art,{{Cite web|title=Three Beauties by Shunsen: After a Bath (Shunsen bijin Sanshi: Yokugo)|url=http://collection.imamuseum.org/artwork/77605/|access-date=2021-01-12|website=Indianapolis Museum of Art Online Collection|language=en}} the Minneapolis Institute of Art,{{Cite web|title=Actor Ichikawa Chūsha VII as Takechi Mitsuhide, Natori Shunsen; Publisher: Watanabe Shōzaburō ^ Minneapolis Institute of Art|url=http://collections.artsmia.org/art/62472/actor-ichikawa-chusha-vii-as-takechi-mitsuhide-natori-shunsen|access-date=2021-01-12|website=collections.artsmia.org}} the University of Michigan Museum of Art,{{Cite web|title=Exchange: Actor Sawamura Sôjûro as Narihira Reizô in "Keisei soga kuruwa kagami", from the series "Shunsen Nigao-e Shû"|url=https://exchange.umma.umich.edu/resources/32363/view|access-date=2021-01-12|website=exchange.umma.umich.edu}} the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo,{{Cite web|title=The Independent Administrative Institution National Museum of Art - Collections|url=https://search.artmuseums.go.jp/search_e/records.php?sakuhin=6133|access-date=2021-01-12|website=search.artmuseums.go.jp}} the Harvard Art Museums,{{Cite web|last=Harvard|title=From the Harvard Art Museums' collections Actor Kataoka Nizaemon as Honzō|url=https://harvardartmuseums.org/art/173555|access-date=2021-01-12|website=harvardartmuseums.org|language=en}} the Honolulu Museum of Art,{{Cite web|title=Bando Juzaburo as Seigoro, from the series Portraits of Male Actors in Various Roles (Shunsen Nigao-e Shū), from the series Portraits of Male Actors in Various Roles {{!}} Honolulu Museum of Art|url=https://honolulumuseum.org/collections/7459/|access-date=2021-01-12|website=honolulumuseum.org}} the Los Angeles County Museum of Art,{{Cite web|title=Natori Shunsen {{!}} LACMA Collections|url=https://collections.lacma.org/node/168308|access-date=2021-01-12|website=collections.lacma.org}} the Saint Louis Art Museum,{{Cite web|title=Actor Nakamura Shikaku II as Lady Shizuka at Horikawa Palace, from the series "Creative Prints: Collected Portraits by Shunsen"|url=https://www.slam.org/collection/objects/18020/|access-date=2021-01-12|website=Saint Louis Art Museum|language=en-US}} the Toledo Museum of Art,{{Cite web|title=Bando Hikosaburo VI as Servant Matsuomaru, from "Creative Prints, Collection of Portraits by Shunsen"|url=http://emuseum.toledomuseum.org:8080/objects/64041/bando-hikosaburo-vi-as-servant-matsuomaru-from-creative-pr;jsessionid=C8332B6AC07CA89D396440219A779713|access-date=2021-01-12|website=emuseum.toledomuseum.org|language=en}} the Art Gallery of New South Wales,{{Cite web|title=Total view of Kamakura with a distant view of Enoshima in Sagami Province, 1860 by NATORI Shunsen|url=https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/134.1983/|access-date=2021-01-12|website=www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au}} the National Gallery of Australia,{{Cite web|last=Shunsen|first=Natori|title=Sawamura Sojuro as Mitsugi|url=https://artsearch.nga.gov.au/detail.cfm?irn=254672|access-date=2021-01-12|website=Item held by National Gallery of Australia}} and the Brooklyn Museum.{{Cite web|title=Brooklyn Museum|url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/93714|access-date=2021-01-12|website=www.brooklynmuseum.org}}
Gallery
MET DP143371.jpg|Onoe Kikugorō VI as Hayano Kampei, 1929
Ichikawa Sadanji in de rol van Narukami 36 portretten van acteurs in verschillende rollen (serietitel), RP-P-2003-144.jpg|Ichikawa Sadanji II as Narukami, 1926
Natori Shunsen-Nakamura Kichiemon as Mitsuhide.jpg|Nakamura Kichiemon I as Akechi Mitsuhide, 1926
References
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{{Ukiyo-e artists}}
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Category:Artists from Yamanashi Prefecture
Category:Suicides by poison in Japan
Category:20th-century Japanese painters
Category:20th-century Japanese printmakers