Watanabe Nobukazu

Watanabe Nobukazu 渡辺延一 (1872-1944)

BIOGRAPHY

Tokyo print designer and painter. Considered the best student of Yōshū Chikanobu (1838-1912), who worked in a variety of genres from pictures of beautiful women (biinga) to famous views of modernizing Tokyo (kaika-e), including depictions of domestic industrial exhibitions, depictions of the emperor and empress, and Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese War prints (senso-e). He is perhaps best known for his war prints. During the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), Nobukazu did a considerable number of outstanding triptychs and made his reputation designing battle scenes on land an sea.1 He also produced lithographs.

Original name: Shimada Jiro.  Other gagō (art or studio name): Yōsai Nobukazu 楊斎延一, Yōsai 楊斎 and likely Shimada Nobukazu 島田延一 .2

Waseda University Library's database also shows his name written as Utagawa Nobukazu 歌川延一, which puts him in the Utagawa school lineage and is consistent with his training with Chikanobu.3

Signatures and Seals of the Artist (a sampling)

[1] 延一筆 Nobukazu hitsu with 年玉 Toshidama seal; [2] 延一筆 Nobukazu hitsu; [3] 應需 延一 筆 ōju Nobukazu hitsu; [4] 楊斎延一 筆 Yōsai Nobukazu hitsu; [5] 應需楊斎延一筆 ōju Yosai Nobukazu hitsu; [6] ōju Yosai Nobukazu hitsu; [7] 應需楊斎延一筆 ōju Yosai Nobukazu hitsu with 延弌画印 Nobukazu ga in seal; [8] 楊齋 延一筆 Yōsai Nobukazu hitsu with 楊齋 Yōsai seal;[9] 楊斎延一 筆 Yōsai Nobukazu hitsu with 年玉 Toshidama seal; [10] 応需 延一 ōju Nobukazu; [11] 楊斎延一 筆 Yōsai Nobukazu hitsu with 楊斎 Yōsai seal [12] 應需 楊斎  ōju Yōsai with 楊斎 Yōsai seal

Prints in Collection

[BELOW PRINTS GIFTED TO THE JORDAN SCHNITZER MUSEUM OF ART, UNIVERSITY OF OREGON]

click on thumbnail for print details