Background
Born Suzuki Chinpei (鈴木鎮平) in 1826, it is said that he was born to a fireman, as was his master Hiroshige to whom he became apprenticed under the name Shigenobu at an unknown age.
二代目 歌川広重
Born Suzuki Chinpei (鈴木鎮平) in 1826, it is said that he was born to a fireman, as was his master Hiroshige to whom he became apprenticed under the name Shigenobu at an unknown age.
His work so resembles that of his master that scholars have often confused them. His earliest known work is the illustrations for a book called Twenty-four Paragons of Japan and China from 1849. Hiroshige II produced a large number of commissioned work in the 1850s in the style of the elder Hiroshige, and often signed his work Ichiryūsai mon ("student of Ichiryūsai", another art name of Hiroshige I"s), and from c. 1853 to 1858 simply as Ichiryūsai.
During this decade he produced a number of collaborative print series, particularly with Kunisada, who had earlier worked with Hiroshige I. In his final years he turned mainly to decorating works intended for export, such as tea chests, kites, and lanterns.
On 17 September 1869 he died at the age of 44. Hiroshige I took on few students.
Hiroshige II was the most successful of these. Early Western scholars did not even recognize him as a separate artist.
Another pupil of the first Hiroshige, Shigemasa, later married the master"s daughter, Otatsu, and also began using the name Hiroshige.
This artist now is known as Hiroshige III.
One Hundred Views of Japan
Works by Hiroshige II
Catalogue Raisonné of the Work of Utagawa Hiroshige II
Ukiyo-e by Utagawa Hiroshige II
Media related to Utagawa Hiroshige II at Wikimedia Commons
Biographies
Biography of Utagawa Hiroshige II, British Museum.