Totoya Hokkei - Tabako o suu shinji no futari

Totoya, Hokkei

Two people having a smoke at a shrine festival. Print shows two men smoking at a shrine; one man has dismounted a horse, and the other man is sitting on a chair.

Totoya Hokkei (魚屋 北渓, 1780–1850) was a Japanese artist best known for his prints in the ukiyo-e style. Hokkei was one of Hokusai's first and best-known students and worked in a variety of styles and genres and produced a large body of work in prints, book illustrations, and paintings. His work also appeared under the art names Aoigazono (葵園), Aoigaoka (葵岡) and Kyōsai (拱斎).

Hokkei's work is light and simple, and shows the influence of his master Hokusai: the Famous Places from Various Provinces series appeared shortly after Hokusai's popular Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.[3] Hokkei was an individualistic and versatile artist who made use of a variety of approaches and worked in styles varying from those remiscent of early ukiyo-e artist Hishikawa Moronobu to Western-tinged methods and subjects.

NOTE: Backed on edo era paper. 

Genre: Ukiyo-e

Date: [between 1818 and 1830]