Konen, Uehara

Uehara Konen was born in the Asakusa district of Tokyo. He was a student of the painter Kajita Hanko (1870-1917) and of Matsumoto Fuko (1840-1923), who was the uncle of Takashi Shotei. Konen initially published his prints with Kobayashi Bunshichi, a ukiyo-e dealer who collected privately and also published reproductions. Konen produced a great number of prints with Kobayashi, the lyrical subjects apparently intended to suit the tastes of buyers of classic ukiyo-e. Unfortunately, Kobayashi’s shop and legendary collection of ukiyo-e were destroyed in the fires following the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. As a result of the earthquake and fires, impressions of Konen’s pre-earthquake prints are scarce.