Shunga, a Story of Japanese Erotic Mysteries.

Shunga, literally "Images of Spring", is the  name used to describe erotic prints, books, scrolls and paintings of Japan.

A Brief History Lesson

The origins of the shunga genre is connected with the beginning of Ukiyo-e and starts with the work of Moronobu and his pupils c.1660. At first shunga were published as erotic guides for the most desired courtesans in the houses of pleasure. But with the growth of prosperity, the expansion of the brothels in Edo (today's Tokyo) and the alterations in the Japanese caste system with the merchants getting wealthier, leading a hedonistic lifestyle, shunga gained a more diverting purpose. Shops in the pleasure quarters of Edo, called the Yoshiwara, offered shunga prints and books as souvenirs or etiquette guide to the visitors of the brothels. Shunga were also offered as dowry to newly-weds as an educational guide. With the transition to multi-colour woodblock printing in 1765, before woodblock prints were colored either by hand or printed with a limited palette, the shunga genre entered new ground (both aesthetically and commercially).This revival lasted another century ending at the start of the Meiji period (1868-1912) when Japan opened its gates to the West. During the Meiji period only a few artists specialized in designing shunga prints which were mainly influenced by Western art.

Subjects

As a first impression a shunga image can have a provocational effect on the (Western) viewer because of the undisguised way the subject matter has been portrayed or the exaggerated depiction of genitalia. Once accustomed he can experience the striking compositions and use of colour, its humour and the daring handling of themes. The shunga genre provides a wide range of subjects. Besides the depiction of conventional heterosexual love-making mostly between married couples or courtesans and their clients it also dealt with the homosexual and lesbian encounters, man and beast, scenes with hermaphrodites, Kabuki actors, mythical figures, ghosts, Westerners and even necrophelian "love-making".


Censorship

During the reign of the Tokugawa shogunate from 1660 to 1868 in Japan, shunga were seen as objects harmful to public morals and subjected to unavailing censorship. Today shunga are classified as erotica and therefore tolerated but they are still not permitted to be imported into the country.

Today

Over the last decade the attitudes in Japan regarding shunga have changed resulting in the publication of a huge quantity of books including uncensored material and shunga studies in Japan. In the West, the publications on shunga started in 1975 with the ground-breaking work 'Shunga, The Art of Love in Japan' by Tom and Mary Evans followed by Jack Hillier's 'Art of the Japanese Book' in 1987. A major exhibition of Japanese woodblock prints in 1989 at the Musée d'Ilx-elles in Brussels, where the most impressive works in the show were of the shunga genre, also contributed to a renewed interest. A profound and unique exhibition was held in 2005 in the the Kunsthal Rotterdam called 'Lentelust' with a chronological overview of this art form. Finally, a new extensive publication on shunga by Gian Carlo Calza has been planned for the Spring of 2010. 

"For all this, we must never forget that the shunga are first and foremost works of art. They were never designed as source material for historical and psychological studies. They were made to be enjoyed, and it is through out enjoyment of their sensual beauty that we can attain those insights which are the particular province of the visual arts". 
(Tom Evans -in ' Shunga, The Art of Love in Japan' )

Books on Shunga:

'Shunga, the Art of Love in Japan' (1975) - Tom and Mary Evans 'Art of the Japanese Book' (1987) - Jack Hillier 'The Complete Ukiyo-e Shunga' (1995 to 2000) - R. Lane and Y.Hayashi 'Shunga, the Erotic Art of Japan' (1997) - Marco Fagioli 'Sex and the Floating World' (1999) - Timon Screech 'Japanese Erotic Prints' (2002) - Inge Klompmakers 'Japanese Erotic Fantasies' (2005) - C. Uhlenbeck and M. Winkel

Important Shunga Artists:

Hishikawa Moronobu (? -1694)
> Suzuki Harunobu (c.1725-1770)
> Isoda Koryusai (1735-90)
> Kitagawa Utamaro (1753 -1806)
Torii Kiyonaga (1752-1815)
Katsukawa Shuncho (act. c.1780s-early 1800s) 
> Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)

Yanagawa Shigenobu (1787-1833), Keisai Eisen (1790-1848) Kikugawa Eizan (1787-1867), 
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865), Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-89)

AK-Antiek

 Coevorden  ( The Netherlands )

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