Chikanobu

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Yōshū (Toyohara) Chikanobu was a prolific Meiji woodblock artist; reputedly born about 1838, he is known to have died in 1912. His works ranged from the mythological to the historical to the contemporary: from flower arranging to the kabuki to war scenes. He became well-known for his exquisite expositions of women's wear: from wafuku - traditional wear 和服 to yōfuku - Western wear 洋服, carefully displaying the coiffures and make-up through the centuries. With great effort and care he depicted that great cultural transition from the era of the samurai to the modern day; he showed how the changes occurring during that immense leap affected the Japanese people of that period.

Like the majority of his contemporaries, he worked mostly in the oban tate-e (~35 x ~24.5 cm or ~14" x 9.75") vertical format. There are at least two diptych series, at least one multiple (greater than four) panel polyptych series, and quite a number of mono-panel series, as well as a number of single stand-alone prints which are not related to one another in subject matter. He is, however, best known for his triptychs; single topics, and series, such as Chiyoda Palace.

There are also several series in the oban yoko-e (~24.5 x ~35 cm or ~9.75" x 14") horizontal format:
edo nishiki - A Brocade of Edo 江戸錦
azuma fūzoku - Events in the Capital 東風俗
jūni hito'e - Twelve-layered Kimono 十二
heike monogatari - The Tale of the Heike 平家物語

There is one series attributed to Chikanobu in chuban tate-e (~25.5 x 19 cm or about 10" x 7.5") vertical format:
miyako no hana iro, probably a hikifuda - advertising circular 引札, for cloth/clothing, published by Tōkyō hatsubaimoto - Tokyo sales agency 東京発売元

There is at least one series reported in aiban yoko-e (~22.5 x 34.5 cm or about 9" x 13") horizontal format:
kyōiku rekishi gafu - Album of Educational History

A partial list of his mono-panel oban tate-e (~35 x ~24.5 cm or ~14" x ~9.75") vertical format series include:
azuma nishiki chūya kurabe - Brocade of the East, A Contrast of Day and Night 東錦晝夜竸
jidai kagami - A Mirror of the Ages 時代鑑
azuma - The East あづま
shin bijin - Beautiful Women 真美人
nijūshi kō mitate e awase - A Parody on the Twenty-four Exemplars of Filial Devotion 二十四孝見立画合
setsu gekka - Sun/Moon/Flower 雪月花 (N.B.: there are two different series with this same name)
gentō shashin kurabe - Contrasting Life with a Photograph shown through a Magic Lantern 幻燈寫心竸
azuma fūzoku fuku tsukushi - Customs of the Capital displayed by Homonyms of the word "FUKU"東風俗福つくし
gempei seisuiki - A Chronicle of the Rise and Fall of the Minamoto and the Taira 源平盛衰記
meiyo iro no sakiwake - Honorable Flowers Blooming in Different Colors 名譽色咲分
azuma fūzoku nenjū gyōji - Annual Events and Customs in the Capital 東風俗年中行事
mitate jūnishi - A Parody of the Twelve Months 見方十二支
tōkyō meisho - The Sights of Tokyo 東京名将
imayō tōkyō hakkei - Eight Views of Tokyo Today 今様東京八景
tokugawa kakei ryakki - A Brief Account of the Tokugawa Lineage 徳川家系略記
azuma kagami - A Chronicle of the Kamakura Bakufu 1180 to 1266 あづま鑑
Bakin chojutsu - Stories by Bakin 馬琴著述

Two of his well-known oban tate-e (~35 x ~24.5 cm or ~14" x ~9.75") vertical format diptych series are:
meishō bijin awase - A Comparison of Beautiful Women with Scenic Places 名勝美人合
nihon meijo hanashi - Stories about the Famous Women of Japan 日本名女咄

He is also known to have contributed to single print and triptych series in association with other artists. There are at least two known series, probably commissioned by a publisher, that display a joint effort by several artists:
A history of twenty-five prints was published in 1877 concerning events of the Satsuma Rebellion using triptychs by Chikanobu, Toshinobu, Sadanobu, et al.
A newspaper nishikie-e series, kyodo risshi no motoi - Foundations of Morality and Success 教導立志基, that includes two prints by Chikanobu.

[edit] Further reading

Kyoko Kurita, Joshua S. Mostow, Allen Hockley, Bruce Coats. Chikanobu: Modernity And Nostalgia in Japanese Prints. Leiden, Boston, Tokyo: Brill Academic Pub, 2006, ISBN 13: 978-9074-82288-6