Yamanaka Kodō

Yamanaka Kodō 山中古洞 (1869-1945)

BIOGRAPHY

Sources: Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: 1900-1975, Helen Merritt, University of Hawaii Press, 1992, p. 172; Woodblock Kuchi-e Prints: Reflections of Meiji Culture, Helen Merritt and Nanako Yamada, University of Hawaii Press, 2000, p. 222; Wikipedia Japan https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B1%B1%E4%B8%AD%E5%8F%A4%E6%B4%9E

Born in Tokyo to the Satō 佐藤 family with the given name of Noboru 升 (のぼる)[1], he was adopted by the Yamanaka family. After a brief time working at the Ministry of Finance, he studied with multiple artists working in different styles including the renowned ukiyo-e artist Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 月岡芳年 (1839-1892), the Shijō school painter Kumagai Naohiko 熊谷直彦 (1829-1913), Arihara (Ariwara) Kogan 在原古玩 (1829-1922), known for his revival of the Tosa style of painting, the Western style painter Ishihara Hakudō 石原白道 (1856-1916) and the Kanō trained painter, turned illustrator, Takeuchi Keishū 武内桂舟 (1861-1943).

In 1901, along with Kaburaki Kiyokata 鏑木清方 (1878-1972), Ikeda Terukata 池田輝方 (1883-1921), Hirezaki Eihō 鰭崎英朋 (1880-1968) and others, he formed the Ugōkai 烏合会 (Cormorant Society) a small organization of ukiyo-e illustrators whose purpose was to revitalize the bijinga (beautiful women) genre and elevate the status of illustrators who were looked down upon by the formal art establishment. He exhibited paintings with Ugōkai and Kokugakai 国画会 (National Painting Association), founded in 1918 and still active today.

Yamanaka became an employee of Yomiuri shimbun in 1896 designing sashi-e (inserted illustrations). He later worked for the publisher Hakubunkan 博文館 under the supervision of Takeuchi Keishū.

Kodō's kuchi-e (woodblock-printed frontispiece illustrations) began appearing about 1900 and include illustrations for Sunrise Island - East Cloud Volume (Hinode-jima - Shinonome no maki) by Murai Gensai (Shun'yödō, 1900); Story of Oliver Twist (Kozakura Shinkichi) by Sakai Koson (Kumon Shoin, 1912); and in collaboration with Hirezaki Eihō, Fading Love (Omoizame) by Goto Chūgai (Kyōnando, 1907).

Most notable, are his woodblock print designs of bijin-ga (examples of which are shown below), including works for the shin hanga publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō 渡辺庄三郎 (1885-1962).

Yamanaka used the artist name (gō) Tatsushige (Tatsujū) 辰重 on his prints for Watanabe. His name is sometimes seen romanized as "Yamanaka Kotō"

[1] Merritt in Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: 1900-1975, gives Yamanaka's original name as Satō Shō as does [The] Female Image: 20th Century Prints of Japanese Beauties, Amy Riegle Newland and Hamanaka Shinji, Abe Publishing Ltd and Hotei Publishing, 2000, p. 212.