Nichosai Artist

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Nichoosai, Nichōsai 耳鳥斎 Nichosai, Nicho-sai
(?1751 - 1802/03)
A painter from Osaka.
His style is kakuyuufuu 覚猷(かくゆう)風 kakuyu-fu
His name was 松屋平三郎　Matsuya Heisaburo.
- - - - - His most famous works
「絵本水や空」 Ehon Mizu ya Sora
「画話耳鳥斎」Ebanashi Nichosai


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I have researched the Edo paintings, especially, 戯画 Osaka's Giga (humorous pictures). In the mid-Edo period, Nicho-sai (1751-ca.1803) made his name as a painter of Giga in the flourishing mercantile center of Osaka. Besides doing business in Kyomachibori, Nicho-sai had an interest in painting and Joruri (ballad drama, sometimes performed with puppets) and most importantly, displayed an exceptional talent in the field of Giga.

In sharp contrast to Kyoto and Edo, the local character of Osaka was such that it remained somewhat cut off from academicism. Yet due to the city's free and vigorous air as a mercantile center, Osaka produced a slightly different type of artistic brilliance from the professional painters of the Kano and other schools. In addition, there is something uniquely Osakan about Nicho-sai's Giga; that is, he was a "master of humor".

From Kabuki scenes to genre paintings and printed books, Nicho-sai's works are a combination of both a summary yet witty precision and a simple brand of fun in which he rails against a straitlaced society and declares the world to be a comedy. I have got a new knowledge about "True or Fake" of Nichosai s paintings and so on, by the research of museum and other collectors in Japan and China.

In this time, I research the full range of the artist's output with approximately of Nicho-sai's painted works, such as the representative works "Another World Scroll", "Revenge of the 47 Ronin", and some books. In addition, I have also attempted to shed some light on the Osaka Giga tradition by including caricatures, and Toba-e books which we discover the origins of Osaka, the city of laughter. I have got a original result by this study.
- source : kaken.nii.ac.jp/ja - NAKATANI Nobuo -




耳鳥齋アーカイヴズ - - -江戸時代における大坂の戯画-
江戸時代に活躍した戯画作者の耳鳥齋の肉筆画・挿絵など計３００点によるオールカラーの作品資料集。忘れられた大坂の戯画作者の中でも、最も注目される耳鳥齋は、かつては江戸の写楽と比較され、大いに人気を博していたが、近代になって忘れられた。本書は初めてといえる耳鳥齋の網羅的な作品紹介および資料集である。
関西大学東西学術研究所資料集刊　 36
- source : www.kansai-u.ac.jp -

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Evidence that ‘kawaii’ has ruled Japanese pop culture for centuries!
A collection of playful prints from over 200 years ago prove that Japan’s highly-refined sense of cute has a very long history indeed.

The images in this article, taken from two different volumes of artwork created by the Japanese artist Nichōsai (耳鳥斎), prove that the country has long been gripped by its enduring love of cute characters.

The collection comes from two separate books made in 1780 and 1803. The earlier book, called
E-hon mizu ya sora, consists of a variety of caricatures and other cartoonish images of well-known Kabuki actors of the day, rendered in a way that’s frankly pretty adorable. The second book of the series, which comes in color, is called Katsurakasane.



At first glance, there’s something very contemporary about these images, which seem to predict Japan’s recent fixation on so-called yuru-kyara (cute mascots).

But a careful look inside the cover of these books reveals that these were actually made well over two centuries ago during the Edo Period (1603~1868). So who was the artist that made them, exactly?

Nichōsai (c. 1751-1803) was an ukiyo-e artist and caricaturist living and working during the eighteenth-century around Osaka. The subject of Kabuki-actors and other popular figures was common for other ukiyo-e artists at the time, and it seems that Nichōsai was well-known for his talent at making giga (戯画), or humorous images.

Nichōsai is identified in most resources as an adherent of the Kanō school of artists, who were responsible for a style of painting very popular with the Japanese nobility from the 16th century onwards. But little of that school’s bold brushwork and stuffy, classical aesthetic is evident in these cute little sketches of actors and dancers.

These charming, manga-like images by Nichōsai seem to share more in common with a contemporary, Yosa Buson (1716-1784), than any Kanō painter I know of. But that’s just a little art history geekery for you!
- source : en.rocketnews24.com/2016


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絵本水や空 Ehon Mizu ya Sora - Picture Book Water and Sky


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画話耳鳥斎 Ebanashi Nichosai


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耳鳥斎 展示会 Exhibitions


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Nicho-sai and the Edo Period Caricatures in Osaka
Nakatani Nobuo (author)
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別世界巻の模写（by　おじゃら　りか）Rica Ojara
詩原作は、耳鳥斉という江戸時代の絵師　Rｉｃａ　Oｊａｒａ　がテレビより模写した
- source : ojara.sakura.ne.jp/mybooks -


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. Famous People of Edo　.

. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo　江戸の名所 .

. Doing Business in Edo - 商売　- Introduction .

. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .

. senryu, senryū 川柳　Senryu poems in Edo .

. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .


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