105 - Ginkô: Disguised as Woman

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.

56 - Ginkô: Tennō Yūryaku overpowers a large wild boar at Mount Katuragi

Ginkô: Tennō Yūryaku overpowers a large wild boar at Mount Katuragi, 1896

Emperorr Yūryaku, [雄略天皇 - Yūryaku-tennô], who reigned about 456-469 AD, was the 21st emperor of Japan. Here Adachi Ginkô shows him as a hunter: Tennō Yūryaku overpowers a large wild boar at Mount Katuragi in 461 AD. The print is from 1896.

Tennô [天皇] means "heavenly sovereign" and is the official title of the Japanese ruler. "Emperor" is a Western attempt of a translation. But "Tennô" in Japanese refers only to the Japanese ruler. Foreign emperors are called kōtei [皇帝]. However, the title tennô is not known to have been used before the 40th emperor, Tenmu, who reigned 631-686 AD. Thus Yūryaku was never called tennô in his lifetime.

04 - Adachi Ginkô: Tiger in the Snow

Adachi Ginkô: Tiger in the Snow - 1896

Adachi Ginkô was active 1874-1897, which is after the peak of ukiyo-e. His art belongs to the Meiji period. This is commonly considered as a time of declining ukiyo-e before it disappeared entirely in the beginning of the 20th century. However, it is not justified to dismiss all art from this period as inferior. Several great artists were active during this time and although most of the works from the Meiji period cannot be considered as "classical" ukiyo-e, there are many great works of art among them.

Ukiyo-e was never static, but developed over time. Although its classical period was the Edo era, it continued to evolve far into the Meiji era. This is the nature of art and the way it develops. One style is not entirely replaced by another at an exact point of time. Eventually, gradual artistic and technical changes have reached so far that we give the art another name. But that borderline is never clear or sharp.

For this week I have chosen Ginkô's print Tiger in the Snow.