Miyagawa Isshō

Miyagawa Isshō
宮川 一笑
Born	1689
Died	(1780-01-20)January 20, 1780 (aged 90) Nii-jima
Style	Ukiyo-e

In this Japanese name, the surname is Miyagawa.

Miyagawa Isshō (宮川 一笑, 1689 – 20 January 1780) was a Japanese painter in the ukiyo-e style, primarily depicting kabuki actors, geisha, sumo wrestlers, and other elements of everyday urban culture. He used several other names: Fujiwara Andō (藤原 安道), Kohensai (湖辺斎) and others; his common name was Kiheiji (喜平治). ^[1]

The majority of Isshō's works that survive come from the Kyōhō era (1716–1736). He was a pupil of Miyagawa Chōshun (1682–1752), ^[2] who, in turn, was influenced by the works of Hishikawa Moronobu. Like many ukiyo-e artists, Isshō also produced a number of shunga , paintings of erotic scenes.

Isshō was banished from Edo in 1751, along with his master Chōshun, to the island of Niijima off the Izu Peninsula for a year. ^[1] This came after a dispute arose over the payment for a painting commission in Nikkō. A Kanō school artist commissioned Chōshun to paint some of the walls of the Nikkō Tōshō-gū but refused or was unable to pay. In the ensuing confrontation, the Kanō artist and two others were killed by Isshō and Chōshun's son. ^[2] Isshō was never pardoned and died on 20 January 1780. ^{[2] [1]}

Selected works

• 
  Miyagawa Isshō painting. Untitled.
• 
  From the Spring Pastimes series.
• 
  From the Spring Pastimes series.

References

1. British Museum.
2. Japan Ukiyo-e Association 1982, p. 54.

Works cited

• Japan Ukiyo-e Association (1982). Genshoku Ukiyo-e Dai-Hyakka Jiten原色 浮世絵大百科事典 第６巻[Original Colour Grand Ukiyo-e Encyclopaedia]. Vol. 6. Taishūkan Publishing.
• "Miyagawa Issho (宮川一笑) (Biographical details)". British Museum . Retrieved 7 June 2018.

See also

• Media related to Miyagawa Isshō at Wikimedia Commons