Kobayashi Kiyochika (1847-1915) was a prominent Japanese ukiyo-e artist known for his color woodblock prints and newspaper illustrations. Born in Edo, Japan, he was the son of a Shogunate samurai administrative official and served the ruling Shogunate of the Tokugawa family. His work documented the rapid modernization and Westernization of Japan during the Meiji period and employed a sense of light and shade called kōsen-ga inspired by Western art techniques.
Kobayashi was a self-taught artist who adopted the effects of Western lithography and engraving, especially in his wood-block prints. He first studied Japanese painting and later oil painting as well as other art forms. His work documented the rapid modernization and Westernization of Japan during the Meiji period and employed a sense of light and shade called kōsen-ga inspired by Western art techniques.
Kobayashi’s work is often described as the last important ukiyo-e master and the first noteworthy print artist of modern Japan. His work is often characterized by a striking presence of a protagonist in a Japanese cityscape, and his use of a European brimmed hat in his works.
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