Sources: The Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints, Amy Reigle Newland, Hotei Publishing Company, 2005, p. 439; the website of the Fukeiga Library http://fukeiga.library.pref.osaka.jp/gaka.php?ID=114
The second of six generations of Hasegawas, starting with his father Hasegawa Sadanobu I (1809-1879) and continuing through Sadanobu IV (1914-1999) and Konobu V (born 1946). [See Hasegawa Lineage below.] He was born in Osaka and used the gō (artist name) Konobu 小信 until 1879 when he started using the Sadanobu name as his gō upon the death of his father Sadanobu I. He studied with his father and with Osai Yoshiume 鶯斎芳梅 (1819-1879), (a.k.a. Utagawa Yoshiume), a student of Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s (1797-1861). He spent about three years in Kobe starting in 1867 during which he produced a number of prints showing scenes of the impact of Westerners in and around the city.
His real name was Hasegawa Tokutarō 長谷川徳太朗.
His print designs include depictions of actors (yakusha-e), landscapes (fūkei-ga), civilization and enlightenment/modernization (bunmei kaika-e), the Sino-Japanese War (sensō-e), illustrations for novels (kuchi-e), advertising flyers (hikifuda 引き札) and prints for newspaper supplements (nishiki-e shinbun). His nishiki-e shinbun prints were mostly created for the Osaka Yubin hochi shinbun (Postal News) and the Osaka nichinichi shinbunshi (Osaka Daily News), for which he also wrote stories.
For a full range of the artist's work see the website of Kansai University Library at http://kul01.lib.kansai-u.ac.jp/library/etenji/hasegawa/shodai.html [accessed 10-26-23]
Sources: "Mameban nishiki-e" by Peter Ujlaki and John Fiorillo, appearing in Andon 103, Journal of the Society for Japanese Arts, spring 2017, p. 64 and as clarified in email exchanges with John Fiorillo on June 6, 2017 and July 27, 2020.
Note: Ujlaki and Fiorillo in their article note the following: "The literature on the Hasegawa lineage of artists (unusually, all were blood relations, i.e., sons and one daughter; none were adopted into the lineage) offers conflicting identifications for the use of 'Konobu' (earlier gō or art name).
長谷川貞信画
Hasegawa Sadanobu ga
長谷川貞信画
Hasegawa Sadanobu ga
小信改二代目貞信画
Konobu
2nd generation Sadanobu ga
小信改二代目貞信画
Konobu
2nd generation
Sadanobu ga
二長谷川貞信画
2nd Hasegawa Sadanobu ga
応需貞信
ōjū Sadanobu with yin/yang seal
応需貞信筆
ōjū Sadanobu hitsu with ying/yang seal
応需小信
ōjū Konobu with yin/yang seal
小信
Konobu with Konobu seal
小信筆
Konobu hitsu with Konobu seal
小信
Konobu seal
長谷川 小信
Hasegawa and Konobu seals
last revision:
8/4/2021
7/27/2020
6/6/2017
[BELOW PRINTS MARKED WITH * GIFTED TO THE JORDAN SCHNITZER MUSEUM OF ART, UNIVERSITY OF OREGON]
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