Yamamoto Shōun

Typical signatures of Yamamoto Shōun reading “Shōun” (昇雲)

Yamamoto Shōun (山本 昇雲, December 30, 1870 - May 10, 1965), who is also known as Matsutani Shōun, was a Japanese print designer, painter, and illustrator. He was born in Kōchi, Kōchi into a family of retainers of the Shogun and was given the name Mosaburo. As a teenager, he studied Kanō school painting with Yanagimoto Doso and Kawada Shoryu. At about age 17, he moved to Tokyo, where he studied Nanga painting with Taki Katei. At 20 years of age, he was employed as an illustrator for Fugoku gaho, a pictorial magazine dealing with the sights in and around Tokyo. In his latter career, Shōun primarily produced paintings. He died in 1965, at the age of 96.

In addition to his magazine illustrations, Shōun is best known for his woodblock prints of beautiful women and a group of humorous shikishiban (prints about 7 by 8 inches). Shōun is considered a bridge between ukiyo-e and shin hanga. His career spans the Meiji (1868-1912), Taishō (1912-1926) and Shōwa (1926-1989) periods.

Yamamoto Shōun signed most of his works with a very small compact signature reading “Shōun” (昇雲).

Gallery

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  A Beauty Carrying an Umbrella, 1906. Woodblock print

References

• Gotō, Masako, Yamamoto Shōun: A View of Nostalgic Japan and the Beauties of those Days. Kochi Shimbun, 2005.
• Masako, Gotō, Yamamoto Shōun, His Life and Works, Daruma Magazine, Issue 62, Spring 2009, pp. 36–51.
• Newland, Amy Reigle. (2005). Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints. Amsterdam: Hotei. ISBN 9789074822657; OCLC 61666175