Hokuei. Portrait of Arashi Rikan II at Mount Tenpō / Fan print, c. 1835.

Artist: Shunbaisai Hokuei [春梅斎 北英] (Japanese, active 1828–1837)
Signed: 春梅斎北英画 (Shunbaisai Hokuei ga)
Publisher: Tenmaya Kihei [天満屋 喜兵衛] (Japanese, active 1816–1869); seal: 天喜 (Tenki), used 1826–1838; Marks 21-193 | 536b
Date: ca. 1835 (possibly 1834); Tenpō 5-6.
Media: Woodblock print (nishiki-e, 錦絵); ink and colour on paper; rigid fan format (uchiwa-e, 団扇絵) printed on oversized aiban sheet; 233 × 335 mm (9.2 × 13.2 in); image width approx. 320 mm
Title: Arashi Rikan II at Mount Tenpō (Tempōzan ni te, 天保山にて)

Actor: Arashi Rikan II [二代目 嵐 璃寛] (1788–1837), also known as Arashi Kitsusaburō II, Arashi Tokusaburō II, Arashi Jusaburō I, Arashi Rikaku I
Role: Unidentified (offstage portrait)

Description:
Half-length portrait, facing left. The actor wears a robe with alternating kōshi (格子, check) and diamond patterns, and holds a closed folding fan (ōgi, 扇) resting on his shoulder. His hair is styled in the standard male fashion of the period. The background shows a stylised panoramic view of Osaka Bay from Mount Tenpō (天保山), with pine-covered hills, fields, boats, and a pale vermilion sky. The landscape and water are printed in deep Prussian blue (bero-ai, ベロ藍), creating a monochrome contrast that may emphasize the figure of Rikan II or reflect the popularity of aizuri-e (藍摺絵, all-blue prints) of the early 1830s.

Mount Tenpō was a man-made hill completed in 1832 at the mouth of the Aji River in Osaka. Modelled after the legendary Mount Hōrai (蓬莱山, Hōraizan; Mount Penglai), it became a fashionable public site with teahouses, gardens, and harbour views, and was frequently depicted in fūkeiga (風景画, landscape pictures). The fusion of this modern landscape with a kabuki actor offstage would have appealed to fans interested in the private or imagined lives of theatrical figures.

This is the only known rigid fan design (uchiwa-e) by Hokuei, likely issued for collectors rather than for mounting. Another impression in similar condition is illustrated in Hendrick Lühl, Schätze der Kamigata: Japanische Farbholzschnitte aus Osaka (2013), no. 37.

Note: The date ca. 1835 is based on Kamigata Yakusha-e Shūsei [上方役者絵集成], vol. 3, no. 567; a date in 1834 is also plausible. Sometimes classified as mitate-e (見立絵, allusive or imaginary compositions).

References:
– Kamigata Yakusha-e Shūsei [上方役者絵集成], vol. 3, № 567
– John Fiorillo, Hokuei: Master of Osaka Kabuki Prints (2024), cat. № 194
– Hendrick Lühl, Schätze der Kamigata: Japanische Farbholzschnitte aus Osaka (2013), № 37 [LIB-3477.2025]
– Ikeda Bunko Library (catalogue № 大H279)

Hokuei (Japanese, active 1828–1836)
Also known as Shunkō (春江), Shunkōsai Hokuei (春江斎北英), Shunbaisai Hokuei (春梅斎北英), and occasionally Sekkarō Hokuei (雪花楼北英), he was the principal successor to Hokushū in the Osaka kabuki print tradition. Hokuei began his career under the name Shunkō in 1828 and signed as Shunkōsai Hokuei from 1829 to 1833, after which he adopted the signature Shunbaisai Hokuei. He was closely associated with the publisher Honsei and the engraver Kasuke, producing more than 160 known works, making him the most prolific Osaka print artist after Hokushū. Best known for his expressive portraits of Arashi Rikan II and Nakamura Utaemon III, Hokuei frequently depicted climactic scenes from kabuki performances of the 1830s. He also played a role in the development of deluxe surimono-style prints in Kamigata and employed a variety of seals. He died in late 1836 or early 1837, shortly before the deaths of both Rikan II and Utaemon III—an event often seen as the symbolic close of Osaka’s third actor-print period.