Okamoto Masafusa (岡本昌房) (artist )

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Biography:

This artist was active from ca. 1751-81. Laurance P. Roberts wrote: "Ukiyo-e printmaker, illustrator. Made prints of bijin and actors. Some of his figures, with their plump cheeks and soft rounded forms, foretell the Ōsaka style."

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Akiko Yano wrote in footnote number 1 in 'Capturing the body: Ryûkôsai’s notes on 'realism' in representing actors on stage': "Actor prints existed in Osaka before Ryūkōsai. Artists’ names, such as Baisetsudō 梅雪堂 in the 1740s and Sekkeisai 雪圭斎 (Okamoto Masafusa 岡本昌房) in the 1770s, and their works, are known. Actors’ faces in these artists’ works retain some distinctiveness but may also be seen as generic. The printing methods employed are ink print with hand coloring (Baisetsudō) and stencil print (kappazuri 合羽摺) (Sekkeisai)."