Isoda Koryūsai (礒田湖龍斎) (artist )
Young man on a horse being watched by two girls from behind a window
ca 1770
4.875 in x 25.7 in (Overall dimensions) color woodblock print
Signed: Koryūsai ga (湖龍斎画)
Harvard Art Museums
Lyon Collection - similar, but older print by Masanobu
Art Institute of Chicago This print by Koryūsai from ca. 1770 is uncannily similar to one created by Masanobu from the mid-1740s. Both examples are in the Lyon Collection and make for a wonderful contrast. In both cases a well dressed young man is riding a beautifully caparisoned horse while being observed by two young beauties through a latticed window nearby. There are several other points of comparison: the Masanobu displays a flowering tree - an indication of springtime perhaps - while there is a pine tree in the Koryūsai. The placements of man and horse are basically the same, but the structures behind them differ somewhat. But, perhaps, the most significant difference between the two prints is the sense of movement in the Koryūsai where the young man is twisting his body and holding onto his hat. (See the link above.)
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Illustrated in in black and white in The Japanese Pillar Print, Jacob Pins, Roger G. Sawers Publishing, 1982, plate 475, p. 198. Allen Hockley in his book on Koryūsai lists this as F28 on page 252. Hockley also lists a copy in the Nihon Ukiyo-e Hakubutsukan.
pillar print (hashira-e - 柱絵) (genre)
Historical - Social - Ephemera (genre)