50 - Harunobu: Bijinga

Harunobu: Bijinga

Undoubtedly, Harunobu was one of the earliest, greatest, and most innovative of the ukiyo-e masters. In his best works, primarily bijinga, the female figures possess an elegance few other artists have been able to achieve.

Here he displays a bijin sitting on the back of an ox. A peculiar and precarious position, yet the figure has not lost anything of its gracefulness.

49 - Hokkei: Urashima Tarō Going Home on the Back of a Tai Fish

Hokkei: Urashima Tarō Going Home on the Back of a Tai Fish

This is a surimono by Totoya Hokkei, showing Urashima Tarō Going Home on the Back of a Tai Fish - the Emperor of the Sea Seeing Him Off.

Urashima Tarō is a figure in a Japanese legend. He saves a turtle, which shows to be the daughter of the Emperor of the Sea, Ryūjin. The Emperor wants to thank him, so he is taken to the Palace of the Dragon God at the bottom of the sea, where he meets the Emperor and his daughter, now the princess Otohime. When he is permitted to return home to see his aged mother, 300 years have passed - and when he opens a box Otohime gave him but forbade him to open, he suddenly ages. The box contained "his old age".

There are several different versions of the tale.

48 - Hokusai: Kanagawa oki nami ura - The Great Wave off Kanagawa

Hokusai: Kanagawa oki nami ura

In a selection of ukiyo-e, it is impossible not to include this print. It might very well be the most famous Japanese artwork ever. It is The Great Wave off Kanagawa, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, by Katsushika Hokusai. The Japanese title of the print is - Kanagawa oki nami ura 神奈川沖浪裏 - and an alternative title in English, one that better resembles the Japanese original, is Under the Wave off Kanagawa.

The picture was originally published between 1826 and 1833.

47 - Hirosada: Nakayama Nanshi II as Umegae and Jitsukawa Enzaburô I as Kajiwara Genta

Hirosada: Nakayama Nanshi II as Umegae and Jitsukawa Enzaburô I as Kajiwara Genta

Here we have a yakusha-e by the technically and artistically skilled Hirosada. This is a portrait of two kabuki actors: Nakayama Nanshi II as Umegae and Jitsukawa Enzaburô I as Kajiwara Genta in the play Hiragana Seisuiki, performed at Naka Theatre in Osaka in the 8th month 1851.

46 - Eizan: Geisha Playing the Hand-Game Kitsune-ken

Eizan: Geisha Playing the Hand-Game Kitsune-ken

Kikugawa Eizan (1787-1867) studied under Utamaro and in certain circles he is seen as a plagiarist of his master with little originality of his own. This is not true. Although Eizan builds on Utamaro's style, he developed it further. With him, classical bijinga reaches its peak and its end; what's coming after him introduces new artistic elements, alien to original ukiyo-e.

The picture is a triptych, Geisha Playing the Hand-Game Kitsune-ken, from about 1820.

Kitsune-ken is a game similar to rock-paper-scissors. From left to right we see Village head [庄屋 shōya], which wins over the Hunter; Fox [狐 kitsune], which wins over the Village Head; and Hunter [猟師 ryōshi], which wins over the Fox.

45 - Sekien: Tengu

Sekien: Tengu

Toriyama Sekien (1712-1788) was a specialist in folklore and initially a painter of the Kanō school. He also created woodcut art. His most famous work is the cataloguing of yōkai, folkloristic, supernatural figures, which was published in four e-hon series, Hyakki Yagyō.

The Illustrated Night Parade of A Hundred Demons (1776)
The Illustrated One Hundred Demons from the Present and the Past (1779)
Supplement to The Hundred Demons from the Present and the Past (1780)
The Illustrated Bag of One Hundred Random Demons (1784)

The print this week is Tengu, from Hyakki Yagyō, 1776.

44 - Toyokuni I: A picnic party among blossoming plum trees

Toyokuni I: A picnic party among blossoming plum trees

This is A picnic party among blossoming plum trees, a triptych by Toyokuni I (1769-1825).

Blossoming trees are important in Japanese aesthetics. Cherry blossoms, sakura, are most highly venerated, followed by peach and plum tree blossoms - all of them common motives in Japanese art.