Mizuno Toshikata (Japanese, 1866 - 1908)
The Sound of Insects: Woman of the Kan'en Era
woodblock, circa 1893, from the portfolio, The Thirty-six Elegant Selections
in the collection of Honolulu Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; The British Museum
sheet measures approximately: 9 7/8" W x 14 5/8" H
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About Mizuno Toshikata
Toshikata was born Mizuno Kumajirō in 1866 in the Yamamoto-chō in the Kanda district of Tokyo to a plasterer's family. When he was about thirteen years old his father, Nonaka Kichigoro, sent him to study with Yoshitoshi Tsukioka. At some point his father removed him from Yoshitoshi's studio and sent him to a relative of his mother to earn his living as a painter of ceramics. In 1882, however, he returned to Yoshitoshi's studio. Yoshitoshi would give him the character toshi from his own name as the first character of his art name Toshikata and eventually designate him as his successor. Yoshitoshi is also said to have passed his artist seals along to Toshikata.
In 1887, on Yoshitoshi's recommendation, he succeeded Yoshitoshi as the illustrator at the newspaper Yamato shinbun, where he achieved acclaim. He worked at the Yamato shinbum until 1894. During the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), which brought about a brief resurgence of woodblock printmaking, he created a large body of work depicting battle scenes. His work is some of the best to be produced during that period.
He was active as a painter of genre and historical subjects, receiving awards of merit in 1898, 1899, 1900 and 1902 at the joint Japan Art Institute/Japan Painting Association (Nihon Bijutsuin/Nihon Kaiga Kyōkai) exhibition and was active in the Japan Art Society (Nihon Bijutsu Kyōkai), and the Japan Painting Society (Nihon Kaiga Kyōkai) and the Academy of Japanese Art (Nippon Bijutsuin).
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