CHIKANOBU YŌSHŪ 揚州周延 (1838–1912)

Toyohara CHIKANOBU (1838–1912, also known as Yōshū CHIKANOBU) was a very busy woodblock artist of Japan's Meiji period (1868-1912). He was very successful in the second half of the 19th century.

Before he started his artistic career in 1875, he was a soldier fighting in many battles. He joined the school of Utagawa Kuniyoshi and after Kuniyoshi’s death he studied with Kunsada.

Chikanobu’s work picture all the typical ukiyo-e genres: Kabuki actors, Kabuki plays , Japanese mythology, battlefields (many of the Sino-Japanese War in the Size of Oban Triptychs), beautiful women (bijin-ga). Chikanobu was best known for picturing lifestyle and fashon. For example, in his series Jidai no kagami (Mirror of the Ages) from 1897.

Most of the woodblock prints by Chikanobu show very strong and bright colours.