Posted by John Fiorillo on December 16, 1998 at 04:16:41:
In Reply to: Hitsu or fude? posted by George Aar on December 13, 1998 at 17:48:15:
: Particularly with Utamaro prints, but others as well, I notice the character after his name is variously translated as "hitsu" or "fude". Is this actually the same character with various readings or is there a seperate character for each word. Also I see the words defined as meaning anything from "drawn by", "from the brush of", or "painting". Can anyone give me a definitive translation and definition for these words (and maybe for "ga"as well)?
Response from JF:
Hello, George,
The use of ga and hitsu or fude are basically interchangeable when used after the artists’ signatures on Japanese prints. There is no one definitive meaning for these closely related characters as they are used in ukiyo-e and all can be taken to mean "painted by," "drawn by," "brushed by," and so on. Hitsu and fude are the Chinese and Japanese readings (pronunciations), respectively, of the same character (see Nelson, 2nd edition, character no. 3397). I suppose the ancient derivations might suggest different nuances of meaning, but you’d have to talk to a linguistic specialist or refer to an etymological dictionary for that. One speculation (and it is only that) might indicate that as "fude" means "brush" its connotation would be a bit closer to the idea of painting with a brush, compared to "ga" which means a "picture" or "sketch" (also, of course, executed with a brush) but also suggests the stroke (read alternately as "kaku") of a character or a line of demarcation, perhaps limiting its original meaning to a drawing (compared to a painting), but that is splitting hairs (no pun intended) and has no real significance in ukiyo-e signatures.
Sometimes the use of one or the other form of characters appended to signatures signifies a change in style for a particular artist or at least helps us to date particular works (artists’ seals are also often helpful). As you mentioned Utamaro, I will add that he appears to have signed his earlier works with "ga" and then began using "hitsu" almost exclusively around late (autumn?) 1793 for single sheet prints, while still using "ga" for some illustrated books and surimono after 1794. It is difficult to say whether the introduction of "hitsu" meant anything special in Utamaro’s oeuvre, though by 1793 he had recently graduated from his early style and earlier influences to his more mature style and had already produced some of his great masterpieces in ôkubi-e format (close-up bust portraits) circa 1792-93, so it is possible that Utamaro chose to change the ending of his signatures to signify his artistic maturity (though the character "hitsu" has no more significance on its own than does "ga"). Alternatively, perhaps he simply enjoyed the change in character because stylistically the formation of "hitsu" with its elongated vertical center stroke allowed for quite a nice flourish at the bottom of the signature. This last idea may not be far fetched because ukiyo-e artists actually had a strong tendency to sign their names in rather "squarish" and constrained styles at the beginning of their careers and then move gradually into more and more cursive and expressive signatures as their careers moved on. You can find numerous examples of this tendency throughout the Edo period (the signatures of Utamaro and Katsukawa Shunshô come immediately to mind).
There is also a third character that Utamaro and other artists used on occasion (mostly on paintings), which was zu, meaning "picture," "drawing," "illustration," and so on (Nelson #1034). Utamaro used it on a painting dated c. 1794.