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| Koryusai: Fisherman Waving to Girl on Shore |
A bijinga by Isoda Koryusai. Fisherman Waving to Girl on Shore. It is Summer from a series of Four Seasons from 1770-75. Note that this is an ordinary girl, not a geisha or courtesan.
Showing posts with label Koryusai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Koryusai. Show all posts
Saturday, 17 June 2017
Saturday, 19 November 2016
38 - Koryusai: Sagi musume - The Heron Maiden
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| Koryusai: Sagi musume - The Heron Maiden |
Here we have one of my personal bijinga favourites, “The Heron Maiden” [Sagi musume], a woodblock print by Isoda Koryusai (1735-1790).
The Heron Maiden is a character in a Japanese folk tale, and often a motive in pictorial art. Briefly, this is the story:
A young man finds a wounded heron, which he takes home and tends until it is healed. When it is, it flies away.
After some time, the man meets a girl, falls in love with her and they get married. They are happy, and to earn a living the wife weaves a precious brocade which the husband sells. But there is one constraint: the man may never watch his wife while she weaves. When he cannot resist to take a look, he sees a heron at work. In front of his eyes, the heron is transformed into his wife. But the spell is broken. When the man has seen her secret, their life together must come to an end and she must leave him. She bids him goodbye, joins a swarm of herons and disappears.
The Heron Maiden is a character in a Japanese folk tale, and often a motive in pictorial art. Briefly, this is the story:
A young man finds a wounded heron, which he takes home and tends until it is healed. When it is, it flies away.
After some time, the man meets a girl, falls in love with her and they get married. They are happy, and to earn a living the wife weaves a precious brocade which the husband sells. But there is one constraint: the man may never watch his wife while she weaves. When he cannot resist to take a look, he sees a heron at work. In front of his eyes, the heron is transformed into his wife. But the spell is broken. When the man has seen her secret, their life together must come to an end and she must leave him. She bids him goodbye, joins a swarm of herons and disappears.
Saturday, 12 March 2016
02 - Koryusai: Dragon
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| Isoda Koryusai: Dragon |
Isoda Koryusai (1735-1790) was the artistic heir of Harunobu, although it is not known if he was ever Harunobus student. In my opinion, Koryusai is an underestimated artist. Harunobu, before him, and Kiyonaga, after him, tend to get most of the attention.
The Dragon above is not typical for Koryusai's art. Indeed, originally it is not his picture, but a copy he made of a painting by Ganki (a 14th century Zen painter), The text at the top states "Painted by Ganki". It is also signed "Hokyo Koryusai sha", which means "copied by Koryusai".
I have not seen Ganki's original painting, but I am fascinated by Koryusai's copy. This dragon, a creature of magic and legend, might very well be the one compelled by the Chinese Sennin Chennan (or Chinnan) to rise from the mud and open "the cataracts of heaven" over the village of Sogo, where people were praying for rain.
Koryusai is considered as the second master of nihiski-e, brocade prints, or full-colour prints, but the (almost) monochrome nature of this picture definitely adds to its fascination. Yet there is limited colour manually added on fangs and claws, although that is barely discernible.
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