Saturday, 10 March 2018

106 - Hiroshige: Matching the World and Music


Ukiyo-e. Hiroshige.
Hiroshige: Matching the World and Music

This is a rare and beautiful triptych by Hiroshige. The name of the print is Onkyoku sekai awase (Matching the World and Music). It was published 1849-1850.


Saturday, 3 March 2018

105 - Ginkô: Disguised as Woman


Ukiyo-e. Ginkô. Abbreviated Japanese History.
Ginkô: Disguised as Woman

Here we have Disguised as Woman by Adachi Ginkô. It is from his most famous series: "Pictorial Outline of Japanese History (Dainippon shiryaku zue)",  published 1885-1889.

Saturday, 24 February 2018

104 - Chikanobu: The brave wife of Shinozuka Iga no Kami standing on the bank of a lake


Ukiyo-e. Chikanobu.
Chikanobu: The brave wife of Shinozuka Iga no Kami standing on the bank of a lake


This is "The brave wife of Shinozuka Iga no Kami standing on the bank of a lake", by Toyohara Chikanobu. The print is from1866.

Shinozuka Iga no Kami was a retainer of the Nitta no Yoshisada and the Nitta clan. His wife's name was Iga no Tsubone.


Saturday, 17 February 2018

103 - Gakutei: Carp


Ukiyo-e. Gakutei. Carp.
Gakutei: Carp

This is Carp, a beautiful painting by Yashima Gakutei (1786-1868) from 1818-1830. Gakutei, technically a very skilled artist, was one of Hokusai's students.


Saturday, 10 February 2018

102 - Shunsui: Furyu Utai Sambukutsui


Ukiyo-e. Shunsui. Noh.
Shunsui: Furyu Utai Sambukutsui

This print is A Triptych of Fashionable No Plays (Furyu Utai Sambukutsui) by Miyagawa Shunsui (active about 1740-1760), the founder of the Katsukawa school.  It is from the 1750s.

Shunsui, who didn't only make prints but was a painter as well, was the son and student of Miyagawa Chōshun.


Saturday, 3 February 2018

101 - Shunkō: Matsumoto Kōshirō IV as Tsurunosuke


Ukiyo-e. Okubi-e. Yakusha-e. Shunkō.
Shunkō: Matsumoto Kōshirō IV as Tsurunosuke

Katsukawa Shunkō (1743-1812) was the first artist who made okubi-e, so-called large head portraits. He is considered the creator of the genre.

Here we have an example of his art: Matsumoto Kōshirō IV as Tsurunosuke, a portrait of a kabuki actor in a specific role.


Saturday, 27 January 2018

100 - Gekkō: The Gathering of 11 Generals


Ukiyo-e. Gekkō.
Gekkō: The Gathering of 11 Generals


Here is a triptych called The Battle at Tien-Chuang-Tai: The Gathering of 11 Generals [Denshôdai no yaku, shôkô jûichimei dôsho ni kai su], and is from  May, 1895. The artist is Ogata Gekkō.

Gekkō made many prints with motives from  the Sino-Japanese war, 1894-1895, which he witnessed as a war correspondent.

According to the script, the people on this picture are Yamaji, Chūjō (Lieutenant-General); Oshima Hisanao, Shōsō (Major-General); Nozu, Taishō (Marshal); Katsura, Chūjō; Nogi, Shōsō; Nishi, Shōsō; Oshima Yoshimasa, Shōsō; Oseko, Shōsō; Kuroda, Shōsō; Oku, Chūjō; Ogawa, Shōsō.