Page:The Surviving Works of Sharaku (1939).djvu/21

 sources about the life of Sharaku has been set forth with full detail as to the sources themselves, etc., in the biographical section of Herr Fritz Rumpf’s book on the artist; and the compilers of this catalogue are unaware of any corrections or additions that can be made. It is unnecessary to repeat Rumpf’s documentation which anyone may read who wishes to do so, and we give in more concise form the facts which are as follows: In the closing years of the eighteenth century, and therefore at about the time when Sharaku’s burst of volcanic activity had burned itself out or for some other reason had ceased as suddenly as it seems to have begun, a certain Sasaya Hōkyō, who was interested in prints, began to compile notes regarding the artists who had designed them in the past as well as those who then were working. His entry about the master with whom we are concerned reads: “Sharaku lived in Hatchōbori, Edo. His name in private life was .............. [sic]; his brush name was Tōshūsai. He drew portraits of actors but exaggerated the truth and his pictures lacked form. Therefore he was not well received and after a year or so he ceased to work.” By 1802 and therefore about seven years after Sharaku had designed his last known print, the manuscript quoted above had passed through the hands of three other compilers, Katō Eibian, Shikitei Samba and Santō Kyōden, and had received the following additions or corrections in regard to Sharaku: “His name in private life was Saitō Jūrōbei. He was a Nō dancer in the service of the Daimyo of Awa. The power of his brush strokes and of his taste are worthy of note. He was active for only about half a year and produced bust-portraits of the actors….” Seven names of actors then are given and this list concludes the entry. Very shortly after 1802 the poet Shokusanjin who may have helped Sasaya Hōkyō in the original compilation, was working on the manuscript and the book finally was printed in 1833 under the name Zoku Ukiyoye Ruikō. Before then, however, a copy had been made, and in a duplicate that was not used as a basis for the published edition, there is a note dated 1813 which adds that later on Sharaku produced skillful oil paintings under the name of Yūrin and that he died in 1801. Neither of these statements has been confirmed and neither was repeated in the published form of the book. Such other approximately contemporary mentions of Sharaku as there are confine themselves to brief references to his work, and most of these are unenthusiastic.

Mention, however, should be made of a book published in 1802 (Haishi Okusetsu Nendaiki) and discussed in the Ukiyoye no Kenkyū,