Itō Shinsui (伊東深水): Bijinga in the 20th Century
Itō Shinsui (伊東深水, 1898–1972) was a Japanese Nihonga painter and woodblock print artist. He was born in 1898 in Tōkyō; his civilian name was Hajime (一). His subject was bijinga, the depiction of beautiful women – a genre that originated in ukiyo-e and that Shinsui carried forward into 20th-century painting without letting it become nostalgia.
Training under Kaburaki Kiyokata
Starting in 1911, Shinsui trained under Kaburaki Kiyokata, the leading bijinga painter of his time. From him he also received his artist name, which alludes to the Tōkyō district of his origin. Through Kiyokata, Shinsui stands in a line that can be traced back to Utagawa Kuniyoshi – the ukiyo-e tradition continued in Nihonga, even as technique and support changed.
Shin-hanga: The New Woodblock Print
Alongside his painting, Shinsui worked for the publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō, who revived the Japanese color woodblock print with the shin-hanga movement. The process remained the traditional one – designer, carver, and printer worked in a division of labor – yet the visual language was that of the 20th century. By 1960, around 135 sheets had been produced this way. For the international perception of Japanese art, these prints were more important than the paintings, because they were available in editions.
Recognition
In 1948, Shinsui received the Prize of the Japan Art Academy for the work Mirror; in 1958 he became a member of the academy. He died in 1972 at the age of 74.
The Depiction of Women as a Genre
A bijinga never depicts a portrait. The woman shown is a type, and the statement of the image lies in its accessories: the pattern and cut of the kimono, the hairstyle, the season of the background, the position of the hands. A lady before a blossoming plum tree is therefore also a spring picture. Anyone viewing such a work should pay attention to its materiality: how a painter renders the fall of the silk and the transition from collar to nape decides rank in this genre.
