The ukiyo-e artist Isoda Koryusai produced thousands of designs between
1769 and 1781, a crucial period in the evolution of the print tradition,
and was honored with the imperial title of hokkyo, yet he has been long
neglected by scholars. Allen Hockley has identified more than 2,500
designs of wide-ranging formats and themes, demonstrating that Koryusai
broadened the treatment of traditional print subjects and appealed to a
wider and more varied audience. Koryusai's sheer output suggests he may
very well be the most productive artist of the eighteenth century.
Refuting outmoded paradigms of connoisseurship and challenging the
assumptions of conventional print scholarship, Allen Hockley elevates
this important figure from the status of a minor Edo-period artist. He
argues that Koryusai excelled by the most significant measure--he was a
highly successful creator of popular commodities. Employing an "active
audience" model, Hockley reshapes the study of ukiyo-e as a scholarly
discipline by assessing Koryusai's significance from the perspective of
consumer culture.
While scholars will be intrigued by Hockley's groundbreaking arguments,
general readers will be fascinated by Koryusai's richly varied career.
Five appendixes catalog all of the artist's known print designs, forming
a record of Koryusai's works that will serve as a lasting reference text
for collectors, dealers, and curators.
