SHUNSHO. SHUNGA - Erotic scene.
Katsukawa SHUNSHO.1726-1792SHUNGA - Erotic scene.Polychrome woodcut. Two sheets joined together, altogether 180x270 mm. Little margin. A few small wormholes, clever restoration with Japanese paper glued on the verso. Minor defects, good specimen.
Further Details
A shunga print depicting two men and a woman having sex. Probably, from the Ehon jinkōki 会本腎強喜 (Picture Book: Joys of Ejaculation), 1789. Shunga (春画) is the Japanese term for erotic art. The word “shunga” literally means spring picture, with “spring” being a euphemism for sex. Most shunga was published in books, with the larger images spanning two facing pages. Although shunga is generally unsigned, hidden signatures and known pseudonyms often permit identification of the artist. Katsukawa Shunshō was a Japanese painter and printmaker in the ukiyo-e style, and the leading artist of the Katsukawa school. Shunshō is most well-known for introducing a new form of yakusha-e, prints depicting Kabuki actors. However, his bijinga (images of beautiful women) paintings, while less famous, are said by some scholars to be "the best in the second half of the [18th] century".
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Katsukawa SHUNSHO.1726-1792SHUNGA - Erotic scene.Polychrome woodcut. Two sheets joined together, altogether 180x270 mm. Little margin. A few small wormholes, clever restoration with Japanese paper glued on the verso. Minor defects, good specimen.
Further Details
A shunga print depicting two men and a woman having sex. Probably, from the Ehon jinkōki 会本腎強喜 (Picture Book: Joys of Ejaculation), 1789. Shunga (春画) is the Japanese term for erotic art. The word “shunga” literally means spring picture, with “spring” being a euphemism for sex. Most shunga was published in books, with the larger images spanning two facing pages. Although shunga is generally unsigned, hidden signatures and known pseudonyms often permit identification of the artist. Katsukawa Shunshō was a Japanese painter and printmaker in the ukiyo-e style, and the leading artist of the Katsukawa school. Shunshō is most well-known for introducing a new form of yakusha-e, prints depicting Kabuki actors. However, his bijinga (images of beautiful women) paintings, while less famous, are said by some scholars to be "the best in the second half of the [18th] century".
