Buongiorno!

Today’s watercolor is a copy of a woodblock print (surinomo (1)) made by Teisei Hokuba.

Hokuba, who often signed his name Teisei Hokuba, was born and lived in Edo. He was one of the most successful pupils of the great master Katsushika Hokusai (1760 – 1849).  He was a  prolific artist, almost up to his teacher’s caliber.

He was a very good ukiyo-e painter, as well as printmaker and illustrator. He designed many surimono and a number of illustrations for poetry (kyoka (2)) books and novels, and is known mainly for his paintings of beauties (bijin-ga).

Although he was very prolific,  no attempt has been made so far to document his large body of work. So any information about him is welcome.

Here is the link to the original:

http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/54145

(1) Surinomo beeing privately published prints

(2) Kyοka beeing mad or satirical illustrated poems