Collection: Hunhar II

Hunhar II (active 1730s–1765) was a painter and printmaker in Edo-period Japan, working primarily in the ukiyo-e tradition. He trained under the Torii school, which dominated kabuki theater imagery in 18th-century Edo (modern Tokyo). His early works, such as "The Actor Segawa Kikunojo I as Hanjo" (1733), were produced for the Nakamura Theater, where he documented performances of jōruri puppet plays and kabuki dramas.

Hunhar II specialized in actor portraits and mythological scenes, often using woodblock printing and ink on paper. His series "The Four Seasons of Farmers" (c. 1730s), including "Summer: Planting Rice", depicts rural labor with delicate linework and muted color palettes. Later works, such as "Women Enjoying the River at the Forest’s Edge" (c. 1765), shift to genre scenes, combining figural groups with natural motifs like flowering marigolds, rendered in fine brushwork on silk or paper.

Hunhar II’s theater prints circulated widely in Edo, catering to merchant-class patrons who collected images of popular actors. His rural scenes, though less studied, contributed to the diversification of ukiyo-e beyond urban entertainment, influencing later artists in the Shin-hanga movement.