, who is also known as Shunkō II, was a designer of books and ukiyo-e

Ukiyo-e

' is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints and paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries, featuring motifs of landscapes, tales from history, the theatre, and pleasure quarters...

 style Japanese woodblock prints

Woodblock printing in Japan

Woodblock printing in Japan is a technique best known for its use in the ukiyo-e artistic genre; however, it was also used very widely for printing books in the same period. Woodblock printing had been used in China for centuries to print books, long before the advent of movable type, but was only...

. He was born in 1762 and designed prints from about 1805 to about 1821. He initially studied with the Rimpa school

Rimpa school

, is one of the major historical schools of Japanese painting. It was created in 17th century Kyoto by Hon'ami Kōetsu and Tawaraya Sōtatsu...

 artist Tsutsumi Tōrin III. In 1806 or 1807, Shunsen became a student of Katsukawa Shun'ei, and changed his name from “Kojimachi Shunsen” to “Katsukawa Shunsen”. In 1820 he succeeded Katsukawa Shunkō I

Katsukawa Shunko I

was a designer of ukiyo-e style Japanese woodblock prints in Edo . He was a student of Katsukawa Shunshō, and is generally credited with designing the first large head actor portraits . Like his teacher, Shunkō used a jar-shaped seal and was known as Kotsubo...

, becoming Katsukawa Shunkō II. In the late 1820s, he ceased producing woodblock prints and devoted himself to painting ceramics. He died about 1830.

Shunsen is best known for his genre

Genre

Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...

 scenes, landscapes, and prints of beautiful women.