Yamazaki Toshinobu

Yamazaki Toshinobu 山崎年信 (1857-18861) 

BIOGRAPHY

I have seen three sources of information on this artist - Laurance Roberts in his Dictionary of Japanese Artists, a Japanese wiki on the artist (山崎年信) and Roger Keyes' 1982 dissertation on Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892) titled "Courage and Silence: A Study of the Life and Color Woodblock Prints of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi: 1839-1892". The three sources both corroborate and contradict each other.  Part of the confusion may be due to Yoshitoshi having three students using the artist name Toshinobu, two of which use the same kanji characters 年信 for the spelling of Toshinobu.2  Be that is it may, Keyes' dissertation is best relied upon and it immediately follows.  Roberts' information comes next followed by my incomplete and not to be trusted translation of the Japanese wiki entry.

 Family Name: 斉藤 Saitō

 Personal Name: 徳三郎 Tokusaburō

 Gō (artist name): Nansai 南斎, Goen 呉園, Fusōen 扶桑園, Donkai 呑海

Son of a barber; painted festival lanterns for Inari shrines from the age of 11; discovered by Yoshitoshi (c. 1870) and taken into his studio; stole a group of Yoshitoshi's drawings (c. 1883) and, after being discovered, left Tokyo and moved to Kyoto; designed illustrations for the Asano Newspaper in Kyoto; named as deceased on the Yoshitoshi memorial.

Real Name: Yamazaki Shinjirō; Familiar Name: Tokusaburō; Go= Sensai, Shunko, Toshinobu. Ukiyo-e printmaker. Pupil first of Kunisada, then of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892).  Lived in Tokyo and Yokohama.  Member of the Yokohama school of printmakers.  Also worked as an illustrator of books and newspapers.

This wiki contains the most extensive information on this artist.  I have culled some information from the Japanese text, but for any readers of Japanese with interest please consult the original wiki. 

Yamazaki Toshinobu was born in Edo to a poor family. His surname was either Yamazaki or Saitō and his given name was Tokusaburō. His father was a green grocer. He started his studies with Yoshitoshi at 13. He created thirty woodblock prints of the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion. In 1878 he created nishiki-e shinbun for the Tokyo newspaper Choya shinbun 朝野新聞. He moved to Osaka where he worked as an illustrator of novels, including the works of novelist Udagawa Bunkai 宇田川 文海 (1848-1930) with whom he developed a friendship. He also created illustrations for newspapers and continued to create woodblock prints. While in Osaka he began drinking heavily which interfered with his work and there was a period around 1880 when he does not seem to have created any work.2 His drinking also led to a fallout with Bunkai which was later restored by the intervention of the novelist Kanagaki Robun (1829-1894.) In 1885 he moved to Kyoto where he again worked as a newspaper illustrator.

In June 1885 he contracted pneumonia and later meningitis.  He died in Kyoto on September 15, 1885.

Signatures and Seals Attributed to the Artist (a sampling)

[1] 應需年信 ōju Toshinobu with unread seal (signature from Choya shinbun nishiki-e, 1878); [2] 應需年信 ōju Toshinobu with unread seal [3] 應需年信 ōju Toshinobu with unread seal (signature from shogi kiyu no hanashi, 1878); [4] 應需年信画 ōju Toshinobu ga with unread seal; [5] 應需年信 ōju Toshinobu with unread seal; [6] 應需年信 ōju Toshinobu with unread seal (signature from Famous Courtesans in Meiji, 1878); [7] 應需年信画 ōju Toshinobu ga (signature from this collection's print, 1877); [8] 山崎年信画 Yamazaki Toshinobu ga with 山 Yama seal; [9] 應需年信画 ōju Toshinobu ga with 山 yama seal [10] 山崎年信 画 Yamazaki Toshinobu ga 

Prints in Collection

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

click on thumbnail for print details