[Note from the artist]
About Hishikawa Moronobu, from the series “Banzai-Ukiyoe San-en”
-This is Moronobu drawing the Enpon (illustrated erotic book) “Koi no mutsugoto shijuhatte” at about the age of 62.
-The artist is turning to his wife inviting him to bed.
-There are various theories about the years of the artist’s birth and death. Here I assume that he died at age 77 in Genroku 7 (1964).
-The Enpon was published in Enpo 7 (1679), when Moronobu was about 62 years old.
-The writing on the background is an excerpt from the afterword including “not for pleasure, but for prosperity of descendants.”
-I referred to his baby-faced self-portrait in a book published in Tenna 3 (1683). Moronobu has a pipe in his left hand and a fan in his right hand there. I had him hold a brush in his left hand here, assuming that he was ambidextrous.
