Biography

Ukiyo-e artist. During the Horeki era (1751–64), he created such works as actor prints and beauty prints. Around 1765–66, the trend among dilettantes was Picture Calendar exchange parties, which pitted the best calendar designs against each other. Harunobu participated in the competitions; thus, he pursued color expressions in cooperation with a woodblock carver and a printer. This resulted in the development of the multicolored printing technique. He played the leading role in the founding of the multicolored print (nishiki-e). His sudden death occurred in 1770, after he published over 1000 multicolored prints. His lyrical bijin-ga (beauty prints) swept the ukiyo-e world. It was referred to as the Harunobu style, which revealed the innocent, androgynous look of a beautiful woman. In addition, he excelled in “mitate-e (parody prints),” which translated Japanese classical literature and Chinese historical facts and anecdotes into the manners and customs of the time.