Takahashi Hiroaki

(Tokyo, Japan, 1871 - 1945, Hiroshima, Japan)

Japanese

The work of Takahashi Shotei (also known as Hiroaki or Komei) paved the way for many other shin hanga designers. Takahashi was the first artist to work with the publisher Watanabe Shozaburo, and he designed prolific numbers of prints, more than any other shin hanga artist. Though many of Takahashi's prints were intended simply as inexpensive tourist souvenirs, some are high quality, memorable designs worth consideration by collectors. Takahashi Shotei was born in January 1871 in the Asakusa section of Tokyo. His given name was Takahashi Katsutaro. Starting at the age of nine, he studied drawing with his uncle, the Japanese-style painter Matsumoto Fuko. As a young man, Takahashi worked for the Imperial Household Department of Foreign Affairs copying ceremonial designs. He also illustrated magazines, textbooks, and scientific articles. In 1891, he organized the Japan Youth Painting Society with fellow artist Terazaki Kogyo. A turning point in Takahashi's career came in 1907, when he began to design woodblock prints for the Watanabe publishing company. His early prints were signed 'Shotei', the art name he took around 1902. Around 1921, Takahashi changed his artist's name to 'Hiroaki', occasionally using the name 'Komei'. His prints have a great variety of seals and signatures, which sometimes makes identification difficult.

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