Very few facts of Harunobu's life are known. Some authors suppose he was born in Kyoto and afterwards came to Edo. He is said to have studied first under Shigenaga, but his early prints are in the style of Torii Kiyomitsu. By 1762, however, he had already developed his unique style, which was to dominate the ukiyo-e world. In or around 1765 Harunobu was the most important artist to design a new type of prints, the 'nishiki-e' (brocade pictures), printed with as many as nine or ten colour blocks, using richer and more opaque colours on thicker paper than had been done previously; blindprinting was also extensively used. Harunobu depicted a wide variety of subjects, from classical poems to contemporary beauties. |
