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Edutainment > Tadamasa Ueno - 1904-1970
Tadamasa Ueno specialized on Kabuki prints designed in a modern yet classical way. In today's ukiyo-e market his prints are undervalued for no understandable reason. Collectors who have the courage to go against fancy trends will get a lot of good print for little money.
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From Ueno Katsumi to Ueno Tadamasa
Tadamasa was born as Ueno Katsumi. He studied with Torii Kyotada (1875-1941) - also Torii VII. The Torii family had been ukiyo-e painters and printmakers for several generations and can be traced back to the seventeenth century.
Ueno received his artist name Tadamasa - with the syllable tada taken from his master's name Kyotada. That was an old tradition.
..and to Tadamasa Torii
In 1949 the Torii family allowed Tadamasa to use the renowned name Torii. And so he became Tadamasa Torii.
In 1940 the artist started a series of 18 prints titled Kabuki kumadori juhachi ban - Eighteen Kabuki Makeups. One print was planned for each month. After this series, another one, Zoku kumadori juhachiban, was planned but abandoned after the first seven prints.
It was during the years of the Pacific war and artistic creations suffered due to scarce material and a lack of demand from the public. The common Japanese people had other worries in these difficult days and no mind for kabuki or ukiyo-e.
After world war II, Torii Tadamasa remained active in the kabuki genre. He designed billboard posters for kabuki theaters and published two series in 1952:
- Kabuki juhachi-ban - Eighteen Kabuki Plays by the Ichikawa Family
- Kabuki juhachiban-no-uchi - One of Eighteen Kabuki Plays
The publishers of the post-war series were Shokokusha and Dairesha.
Dieter Wanczura
(August 2002, updated September 2009)
Literature source used for this Tadamasa Ueno biography
- Helen Merritt and Nanako Yamada, "Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: 1900-1975", published by University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, ISBN 0-8248-1732-X
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