Suzuki Toshimoto

Suzuki Toshimoto 鈴木年基 [also 鈴樹年基] (active 1877–1890s)

BIOGRAPHY

Sources: Courage and Silence: A Study of the Life and Color Woodblock Prints of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi: 1839-1892, Roger Keyes, 1982, p. 551; Wikipedia https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%88%B4%E6%9C%A8%E5%B9%B4%E5%9F%BA [accessed 11-30-23]

Suzuki Toshimoto lived in Osaka and, according to the Japanese Wikipedia entry (cited above) was likely born about 1854 with the family name Suzuki Rainosuke 鈴木雷之助. He was a disciple of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892). He was a print designer and Western-style (yōga) painter who painted landscapes of the Osaka/Kyoto region which display the influence of the Kobayashi Kiyochika (1847-1915), and also a writer/editor and publisher, publishing under his birth name Suzuki Rainosuke. Andreas Marks in Publishers of Japanese Woodblock Prints: A Compendium lists the publisher Suzuki Rainosuke and notes, "Maybe identical with the artist Suzuki Toshimoto 鈴木年基."1 He also had a close association with the publishers Wataya Kihei 綿屋喜兵衛 and Maeda Kijirō 前田喜次郎.

His signature is most often seen on prints of the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion, including biographical prints of some of the figures involved. He also created prints for the newspaper Shinbun zue 新聞図会 under the name Suzuki Sessai.2 Other gō used by the artist include Raisai Toshimoto using the characters 雷斉 and 蕾斎.

The period of his death is given in the Wikipedia entry as possibly after 1920 and before 1931, when the Ukiyo-e shiden 浮世絵師伝 (Biographies of Ukiyo-e Masters) was published.

1Publishers of Japanese Woodblock Prints: A Compendium, Andreas Marks, Hotei Publishing, 2011, p. 299.2 Website of William Wetherall http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/yosha/nn/almanac/Almanac_news_nishikie.html [no longer active 11-30-23]

last revision:

11/30/2023

1/6/2019