Posted by John Fiorillo on January 11, 1999 at 18:35:26:
In Reply to: Re: Tenpo Reforms and "Actor Landscapes" posted by Dan on January 11, 1999 at 09:42:37:
I would not underestimate the longer-term effects of the Tenpô reforms. As I said earlier, the effects were lingering and publishers only gradually returned to more and more explicit depictions of actors. For example, Utagawa Kuniyoshi published circa 1845 a set of ôban prints titled Chûkô meiyo kijinden (‘Stories of Remarkable Persons Famous for Loyalty and Filial Piety’) in which actors were ostensibly depicted as historical heroes to evade the edicts. Hirosada followed suit in Osaka only in early 1847 with a hosoban divided into six sections enclosing portraits of the figures derived from Kuniyoshi’s design in which he substituted the physiognomies of the actors Rikaku II, Gadô II, and Ensaburô I, and then soon afterwards and for several years thereafter Hirosada produced a large number of chûban designs under the generic title Chûkô kijinden (‘Stories of Remarkable Loyalty and Filial Devotion’), again attempting to evade punishment. What these sets indicate is that even after the reforms were not being vigorously enforced, they were never officially cancelled as edicts (officials in Osaka actually indicated in 1844 and 1845 that they would still uphold the laws). I believe the effects of these edicts did not fully expire until the early 1850s.
Still, I do not mean to say that the only reason for the Kunisada series were the Tenpô reforms. They were the initial impetus, and as you recognized, they led the artists into new areas of design that became stylistically independent of their original impetus. So in Kunisada’s case there were first the Tenpô edicts and then soon afterward hesitant attempts at barely disguised actor portraiture. Eventually Kunisada began designing actors before landscapes while providing only their roles, not their names. He could have been thinking of his earlier series depicting beauties before landscapes. It was perhaps no longer strictly necessary by the early 1850s to concern oneself about the reforms, but there was certainly no rush to publishing explicit actor portraits as a matter of course. These slightly disguised actor sets were a fad, of course, but by presenting them in that way they also provided a margin of safety for the publishers and artists who were no doubt aware that the Bakufu could at any time reinstitute strict enforcement of the edicts (which could be quite severe, including monetary fines, confiscation of property, arrest, and exile). That printmaking fads took on a life of their own (an "innovation" as you suggest) is certainly correct, but they would not have taken on their ultimate forms without the original impetus of the Tenpô reforms.
John