Shunman was born in about 1757 (
Hōreki 7 on the
Japanese calendar) with the surname of either Kubo () or Kubota () and the given name Yasubei ( or ). He was orphaned while young. He studied under , a poet,
kokugaku scholar, and painter in the style of the Chinese
Shen Quan. He later also studied under the ukiyo-e artist
Kitao Shigemasa. Upon finishing his apprenticeship took the
art name Shunman (first spelt , later ). Other art names he used include Shōsadō () and Sashōdō (), both of which use the character 左
sa, meaning "left", as he was left-handed. Early in his career he published as a
gesaku novelist under the names Nandaka Shiran () and Kizandō (), as a
kyōka poet under the name Hitofushi Chitsue (), and as a
haiku poet under the name (). He had a heightened sense of beauty and devoted himself to the pleasure-seeking world. Shunman's earliest works dates to 1774: a votive plaque copied from Nahiko. His works include some
ukiyoe prints, book illustrations, paintings, illustrated novels, and poetry. He was the most prolific producer of paintings in the
Kitao school; more than 70 of his paintings survive. His best known prints come from the
Tenmei (1781–1789) through the
Kansei (1789–1801) eras, when Shunman tended toward boldly florid colours in his prints, and adhered to the ("red-hating") trend of avoiding reds and other flashy colours. His
bijin-ga portraits of beauties were less in the stately style of his master Shigemasa than in that of the long, slender beauties of
Torii Kiyonaga. Shunman was a member of the poets' clubs Bakuro-ren and Rokujuen, and became head of Bakuro-ren. He stopped making designing commercial prints in 1790 to focus on deluxe commissioned prints, and provided poetry for the prints of
Hokusai,
Utamaro, and
Eishi. File:Kubo Shunman Women smoking under cherry blossoms.JPG File:Kubo Shunman Départ nocturne pour un concours de poésie, vers 1787.JPG File:Sumiyoshi odori Kubo Shunman.jpg File:Kubo Shunman - Toi.jpg File:Five cranes on a spit of sand. Surimono by Kubo Shunman (CBL J 2284).jpg|Five cranes on a spit of sand.
Surimono, probably 1816.
Chester Beatty Library File:Objects Representing the Ceremony of Exorcising Demons, One of the New Year Performances.jpg|
Objects Representing the Ceremony of Exorcising Demons, One of the New Year Performances, surimono, 18th century. The Met. ==References==