Biography

Ukiyo-e artist. During the Meiwa era (1764–72), under the name Haruhiro, he depicted bijin-ga (beauty prints) in Harunobu Suzuki’s style. He established his own style during the Anei era (1772–81), and was active as a leading artist of beauty prints at the time. In 1776, he published the first in his series of large-sized, multicolored prints, “Models for Fashion: New Designs as Fresh as Young Leaves.” This series, which depicted the courtesans of Yoshiwara and their fashion, gained popularity, totaling close to 120 images. He created nikuhitsu-ga paintings in his later years. He excelled in hashira-e (pillar prints) that used a long, narrow format, while also creating many excellent “shunga” (erotic prints) and “abuna-e” (risky prints), which are rather erotic but not as extreme as shunga.