Shinsui Ito

Shinsui Ito

Shinsui Itō was a prominent ukiyo-e artist, Nihonga painter, and printmaker of the Taishō and Shōwa periods. A successor to the traditional Utagawa school of ukiyo-e, he became widely recognised for his elegant "bijin-ga" (portraits of beautiful women), rendered with the soft, delicate expressions characteristic of Nihonga. Despite his mastery, he sometimes felt constrained by public demand for bijin-ga, limiting his ability to explore other themes. Many of his most acclaimed works featured his wife, Yoshiko, as a model. In his later years, alongside his signature bijin-ga, he created personal Japanese-style paintings, further expanding his artistic repertoire.