OKUMURA Masanobu / 奥村正信

Ukiyo-e painter, printmaker. Also a publisher. Lived in Edo. One of most important figures in ukiyo-e circles; an innovator who influenced entire course of ukiyo-e. Studied for a while with Torii Kiyonobu, but was largely self-taught; influenced by Hishikawa Moronobu. Proprietor of a shop handling illustrated books and prints. Books illustrated by him dated as early as 1701; in 1724 began to publish his own prints; later, those of his pupil Okumura Toshinobu. May have been first to change from hand coloring to color printing after the process was invented in 1741; invented the hashira-e, the uki-e (or bird’s-eye-view pictures), first to introduce use of lacquer in the urushi-e. Set the fashion for bijinga: single-sheet portraits of famous beauties, rendered with much elegance. Also a painter, but few paintings known.

Roberts, Laurance, P. "A Dictionary of Japanese Artists", John Weatherhill Inc., New York, 1980, p. 103