Hasegawa Sadanobu III

Hasegawa Sadanobu III 代 長谷川貞信 (1881-1963) [Konobu III 代 小信]  

BIOGRAPHY

Sources: Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: 1900-1975, Helen Merritt, University of Hawaii Press, 1992, p. 28; The Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints, Amy Reigle Newland, Hotei Publishing Company, 2005, p. 439; website of Osaka Prints http://www.osakaprints.com/content/information/artist_bios/biographies/bio_sadanobu2nd.htm [link no longer active as of 10-26-23]

The third of six generations of blood descendants of Hasegawa Sadanobu I 長谷川貞信 (1809-1879), Hasegawa Sadanobu III was born in Osaka with the given name of Nobutarō.  He studied with his father Hasegawa Sadanobu II (1848-1940), who used the (art name) Konobu 小信 (making him Konobu I).   A younger brother of Sadanobu II, who lived until the age of twenty, used the   Konobu II, making Hasegawa Sadanobu III, Konobu III, when he took this name as his .  Konobu III's specialties were prints related to the kabuki and bunraku (puppet) theaters and historical prints. 

In 1925 he designed thirty prints (divided into 3 collections) showing various types of kumadori or stylized makeup used in kabuki.  In 1926/1927 he created a series of forty-eight prints depicting the stage set and main characters (in the form of puppets) of twelve bunraku plays.  The series was titled Illustrated Collection of Famous Japanese Puppets of the Osaka Bunrakuza 大阪文楽座人形画集 日本名物 and contained twelve sets of prints, one for each play.  The first edition of this collection of prints was jointly issued by the publishers Bijutsusha 美術社 in Tokyo and Hangakai hanmoto 版画会板元 in Kyoto. At an unknown later date Uchida Publishing obtained the blocks and re-issued the prints depicting puppets.

As a caution, due to the overlapping active years of Sadanobu II and III and Sadanobu III and IV, work bearing the Konobu signature is often miss-attributed. 

For a sampling of the work of the first three generations of Sadanobus, see http://kul01.lib.kansai-u.ac.jp/library/etenji/hasegawa/teishin-top.html [accessed 11-24-23], which, hopefully, has correctly attributed all the work displayed.

The Hasegawa Lineage

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 or art name). 

Sample Signatures and Seals of the Artist 

小信

Konobu signature and seal

三世小信

Konobu signature and 三世小信 

3rd generation Konobu seal

小信

Konobu signature and だのぶ  

Konobu seal

小信

Konobu signature and seal

小信

Konobu signature and seal

小信

Konobu signature and seal

小信

Konobu signature and seal

小信画

Konobu ga signature and seal


last revision:

5/19/2021

Prints in Collection

click on thumbnail for print details

Sukeroku

IHL Cat. #1434

Seitaka Dōji

IHL Cat. #1434

Kagekiyo

IHL Cat. #1434

Kitsune Tadanobu

IHL Cat. #1434

Kaidomaru

IHL Cat. #1434

Shibaraku

IHL Cat. #1434

Ōwashi Bungo

IHL Cat. #1434

Sekibei

IHL Cat. #1434

Oiwa

IHL Cat. #1434

Modoribashi

IHL Cat. #1434

Illustrated Collection of Famous Japanese Puppets of the Osaka Bunrakuza, 1926-1927

Bunraku Theater Stage Set for

Yoshitsune senbon zakura, 1926

(first edition with tissue overlay)

IHL Cat. #2474

IHL Cat. #1657 (later edition) 

Bunraku Theater Stage Set for

Ichi-no-tani Futaba Gunki, 1926

IHL Cat. #2486

(first edition with tissue overlay) 

Tamaori Hime in

Ichi-no-tani Futaba Gunki, 1926

IHL Cat. #2487

Bunraku Theater Stage Set for

Honchō Nijūshikō, 1926 or 1927

(first edition with tissue overlay)

IHL Cat. #2476

Koshimoto Nureginu in

Honchō nijūshikō, 1926 or 1927

IHL Cat. #2477

Bunraku Theater Stage Set for Natsumatsuri Naniwa Kagami,

1926 or 1927

(first edition with tissue overlay)

IHL Cat. #2481