Hisihikawa (active from 1672-1694) was a Japanese artist popular in his day in the ukiyo-e genre of woodblock prints and paintings, taught by the shadowy Kanbun Master, and first to profligate Abuna-e (危な絵; soft core erotica). Moronobu as he was known in childhood, was the son of a textile artisan in Kyonan, Chiba Province. His family specialized in gold-silver thread brocade textiles or embroidery used in Kimono, which was most likely to be used for buyers in Kyoto, which Moronobu was familiar with as an apprentice. These fashions were perhaps what helped to create his popularity as a painter, as his reading audience would have been men and women, as literacy in Japan has always been rather high (above 60%) due to travelling libraries like those used by the upper classes in 18th century England. Beni (紅), a popular dye used by the aristocracy which today collates an image of the child in Japan, is seen below and shows how his paintings and designs influenced Kosode fashions from 1670 - 1690. Moronobu differs from the Kanbun master as he was therefore designing his prints not just for a male, but a female audience, which may also the origins of Yaoi (look it up) and the Bishounen (androgynous young male beauty) come to think of it. Think Harry Styles wearing a dress in Vogue or better yet just google Ziggy Stardust.
His background as Moronobu gave him a head start in knowing the fashions of the day (runways and modelling was not yet a business) and the decorative arts. Hishikawa was his artisan handle which he later claimed. Hishikawa drew like many on the art of the Tosa and Kano schools (Japanese) academic painting styles. Hishikawa at some point then met Kanbun (im lazy; read Master) in Edo and began using new printing technology (still woodblocks; think kanji limitations) to print Ukiyo-e and paintings. He fist began publishing in 1672, his most prolific year so far and a lot of these were shunga of Wakashu and some young women, because Kanbun was a pervy old man sophisticated aesthetical erotica artisan.
Beauty Looking Back (c.1672) Hishikawa Moronobu
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These works established Hishikawa as the premier Bijin guy of 1672-1694. He made 100-150 illustrated books consisting of Sumizuri-e (monochrome woodblock prints) and single sheets, most of which are unsigned. In a bid to prove my fine art and media background background aren't worthless, allow me to explain. Whilst no Hokusai in his bid to explode the linework in his drawings, he does create a hitherto unseen effect with the curvilinear effects his 1670's Japanese audience found rather saucy, and the Modern Style artists so admired in Britain for its curvy aesthetic. He also usually uses spatial arrangement with other characters to create hitherto unseen effects, perhaps akin to how in the 1960's experimental theater began to adopt Noh theatre backdrops for example by reducing the amount of visual background information, making the audience focus solely on the present visual information to allow the imagination to wander by alluding rather than an object declaring itself, rather like the Ma (negative space) found in a good Beardsley illustration.
The Bijin figures shown here in Hishikawas' work are all Wakashu (young-boys-of-the-way[of smecks]), which you can see in their hairstyle, because the forelock, a stand of hair left in front of the tonsure which dangles like a fringe is visible. Long-sleeved kosode with the open-inside-sleeve-seam worn by these young men were only worn by Wakashu and ladies and the hitoe found underneath were a sort of glimpse of ankle for the time and place if you will. Rather like how Saudi women use hidden layers of modest clothing to peacock. The linework and the way it wrapped around the body thus, was saucy becuase it reminded the intended audience of pervy old men (remember Japan still has a massive gender imbalance in the Diet so the gender struggle be real) the third-gender Bijin, emphasising more than before the nape, wrist and tightness of the Kosode garment around the body (think cinched to the gods but its a tightly wrapped ro kimono). This HITHERTO UNSEEN EFFECT of pushing the boundary of acceptability in Japanese soft core porn, allowed greater confidence in the softcoreporn world the Ludus pursuit of the Bijin or known rather nichely as an abuna-e.[5]
The composition of the Kimono also would give additional information which as smug personas explain 'it has an additional story behind it that you just wouldnt understand(dont be a dick kids)'. These motifs are about as easy to decipher by modern Japanese viewers as a Turner painting is to a British viewer. One example in Beauty Looking Back is the arrangement of floral motifs which usually relate to Buddhist notions of beauty and order, and which represent harmony probably; we all have to do something for the first time somewhere. If you would like to learn with me, follow the blog throughout the Patterns series for more information on that.
Throughout the later years of his life, Hishikawa also created childrens books (1685) and in the traditional Japanese/Chinese branch of learning how to draw directly lifting from others; ie plagiarism he also used Kyoto subjects in his own spin on a topic when making prints which amalgamated a number of other styles from other illustrators perhaps as a device to draw in a wider audience forming the Hishikawa style (curvilinear lines, risque postures and a new feng shui to background matter). A common matter of this topic matter was the daily lives of women, such as women poets (100 Poems about 100 Poets, 1695), although for anyone who goes looking these are historical figures dressed mostly in Juni-hitoe. [1][2][3][4]
Reference List
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hishikawa_Moronobu#Work
[2] https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/57664
[3] Youtube (2021), 'Life of a Wakashu, Japan’s Third Gender (Male-Male Romance in Edo Japan)', Linfamy, Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzG4UOaGy7M
[4] https://desispeaks.com/wakashu/
[5] https://library.fvtc.edu/GenderEducation/LoveTypes
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