Shigenobu: Erotica (Shunga) of Westerners (Sold)

Artist: Yanagawa Shigenobu 柳川重信 (1787 - 1833)
Title: Erotica (Shunga) of Westerners
Series: Willow Storm
Date: ca. 1820's

Unique masterpiece from Shigenobu’s Willow Storm, an emulation of the copper plate etching technique featuring a scene of “Southern Barbarians’-- 2 Europeans in an intimate embrace. As Yoshikazu Hayashi wrote about this work in “The Complete Ukiyo-e Shunga, Vol 4”: “Not even the great Hokusai ever created a print like this one. In fact there is not a single shunga from the whole Edo period that comes close to it. It is entirely unprecedented and unrivaled.” He goes on to note how closely the ukiyo-e printers and carvers mimicked the western copperplate etching technique of both shading and outline. The chiaroscuro modeling is fantastic. The man wears a wreath that looks almost Hellenistic, and the woman wears her hair in the style of perhaps a Hindu goddess. She wears a bracelet, and he wears an armband. Their pillow seems to be fashioned from metal, but based on perhaps a Chinese design. On this print there is a layer of shiny mica that has been added to the woman’s intimate parts to make it glisten. Extremely scarce design. Shigenobu was a student of Hokusai, and married Hokusai’s oldest daughter. He produced relatively few works.

Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition.
Dimensions: ôban 24.8 x 37.8 cm
Signature: Unsigned, as usual

SKU: YCS010S