Katsukawa Shunkō I

Signatures of Katsukawa Shunkô I reading from left to right: “Katsukawa Shunkô ga” (勝川　春 好　画), and “Shunkô ga” (春 好　画) with jar-shaped seal

Large head portrait (ōkubi-e) of kabuki actor Matsumoto Kōshirō IV as Tsurunosuke, a woodblock print by Katsukawa Shunkō I

Katsukawa Shunkō I (勝川 春好, 1743 - December 1, 1812) was a designer of ukiyo-e style Japanese woodblock prints in Edo (Tokyo). He was a student of Katsukawa Shunshō, and is generally credited with designing the first large head actor portraits (ōkubi-e). Like his teacher, Shunkō used a jar-shaped seal and was known as Kotsubo (Little Jar). At age 45, the right-handed Shunkō became partially paralyzed and ceased designing woodblock prints, although he continued producing paintings with his left hand.

Other ukiyo-e artists called “Shunkō”

Several other artists are known in English as “Shunkō”, although their names are not all written with the same kanji. These other Shunkōs are:

• Katsukawa Shunkō II (春好, active 1805-1821), better known as Katsukawa Shunsen
• Shunkō III (春江, active 1824-37), better known as Shunbaisai Hokuei
• Shunkō IV (春好, active 1802-32), better known as Shunkōsai Hokushū

References

• Keyes, Roger S. & Keiko Mizushima, The Theatrical World of Osaka Prints, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1973, 275.
• Lane, Richard. (1978). Images from the Floating World, The Japanese Print. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 10-ISBN 0192114476/13-ISBN 9780192114471; OCLC 5246796
• Newland, Amy Reigle. (2005). Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints. Amsterdam: Hotei. 10-ISBN 9074822657/13-ISBN 9789074822657; OCLC 61666175
• Roberts, Laurance P. (1976). A Dictionary of Japanese Artists. New York: Weatherhill. 10-ISBN 0834801132/13-ISBN 9780834801134; OCLC 2005932