The doors, not the door, Mr. Beckett. I cannot see the border between my world and yours.
I’m trying to review a book, and Amazon won’t let me do it. So be it. The title is in Japanese. I bought it at the Strand. Must reduce file size, thank Shinto gods for Apple.
Japanese Ukiyo-e Nishiki-e Woodblock Print Kawanabe Kyosai, Ichikawa Sansho
This print has a happy new year vibe about it. When we are all busy preparing for 2020, I will take a moment to admire the gourd and his friends before buying the oranges.
As a young child, I believed that I was Japanese. Perhaps it’s explained by my father’s black hair, narrow dark eyes and face that looked like the Japanese people in art books. The first books I remember: The Golden Bough and a Thomas Crown giant art compilation. My father brought home many adult art books instead of children’s books to me as a toddler. That’s why I love Japanese prints like this one from 1815 of a Lion Dance by Toyokuni I. It shimmers, too with mica sprinkles subtly on the background.
I taught myself to read, too. And I shunned children’s books. Like Groucho, I didn’t want to be a member of a club that would accept me.
My first school finger painting began with a cloud of pink on beige manila paper. I dotted fingertip detail on top of the pink with whorls and loops of white that mixed into the pale pink color that I wanted to denote blossoms. Blowing a dollop of dark brown at the bottom of the paper upward with a paper straw grew the trunk and gnarled branches. As I finished I felt a thrill at having created a Japanese cherry blossom tree. Indignant that my teacher and fellow students didn’t know what I was talking about, I took it home only to find my mother ignorant, also. I fiercely felt that I knew the value of this tree and too bad for everyone else.
Later I found out that Dad had Cherokee blood, not Japanese. He and I shared art knowledge. My younger brothers would complain, “Pen got all the Indian blood.”
My father, an actor and professor of speech and theater, did understand my cherry blossom tree. He took my tree art to the college to show his scene design students, saying “This is how you draw a tree.” Then he told the story to all his friends when they visited, year after year. Now this is a family legend.
Happy New Year. Winter cherry blossoms bloom. Father knows best.
I had three of these books as a child, but never colored them in. It’s because I appreciated the artist’s work. Without knowing the artist’s intentions, it was impossible to touch them. Isn’t it interesting to see the mimasu of the three rice measures? Obviously, it was a kabuki and ukiyo-e lesson for life. Too bad there were no words other than “Crayon Book” and “Made in Japan”.
Artist Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) shows a Kabuki actor dressed as a woman from the series “Index of Favorite Actors Showing Off”. The face reflected in the battledore -shaped mirror is identical. The feet are too large and masculine for a woman in this beautiful Japanese print.
Why did Kabuki theater have only male actors? Because women were punished by legislation that was intended to curb the prostitution that followed the first performances (later, young boys were also banned from performing for the same reason). The history of Kabuki began in 1603 when a woman, Izumo no Okuni, who was an apprentice at the Temple of Izumo began performing with a troupe of female dancers a daring new style of dance drama, on a makeshift stage in the dry bed of the Kamo River in Kyoto according to the Encyclopedia Brittanica.
The older Noh style of dance was formal, gracefully stylized and with a tradition influenced by Buddist doctrine. Noh was stately, for aristocratic samurai audiences while Kabuki was wild, shocking and flamboyantly dramatic; appealing to the average citizen. Kyogen is a third form of ancient comedic theater for the masses with an influence on Kabuki (See youtube.com, NHK Kabuki Kool 2016, Discover Kabuki Based on Noh and Kyogen Documentary). Kabuki was the first entertainment conceived for the masses.
I propose that it is Okuni’s revenge that male actors have had to study femininity closely for hundreds of years. Walking miles in the shoes of female warriors, poets, ghosts and all types of heroines on stage has surely led to a unique understanding and respect for women by the actors and by the artist.
Information from kuniyoshiproject.com
Series: Index of Favorite Actors Showing Off, Yakusha kidori hi-iki-biiki,
役者寄取贔屓びゐき
Subject: Female standing in front of calligraphy
Actor: Ichikawa Hakuen
Publisher: Maru-ya Jimpachi, c. 1840
Size: Oban, about 14″ x 10″
Artist: Kuniyoshi
From Kuniyoshi’s 1847 series: Sixteen Female Sennin, Charming Creatures. Sennin is a loan word from Chinese, where they were Taoist wise immortals. Pictured on this print, a beautiful woman holds a cloth while her cat eats a fish. An overturned bowl is on the floor behind her. She seems happy and serene but I am unable to find any information on the Sennin Shohei, so part of the meaning is lost on me.
(Enshi jû-roku josen, 艶姿十六女仙)
From Kuniyoshiproject.com:
In addition to the eight principal male immortals, some texts also mention eight female immortals. This series pair beautiful women with each of these sixteen immortals, with a poem inscribed on each print. The series is listed as number 58 in Kuniyoshi by Basil William Robinson (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1961).
I own the far left panel of this triptych by Kuniyoshi. Today I was very interested to see the entire image. From knowledge of the left panel only, the subject was samurai being ripped apart by tigers and a leopard. Kuniyoshi has shown both sides of the savagery in his art.
Information from the Fujiarts.com online gallery:
Comments – Incredible triptych of the renowned samurai Kato Kiyomasa (here called Watonai) and his men chasing tigers in Taiwan which have carried off some of his men. Kiyomasa was a leader during Japan’s Seven Year War with Korea in the 16th century. Fully armed and clutching a spear, the warrior watches from a cliff overhanging a river as two tigers swim away with soldiers in their mouths, a young cub perched on the back of one animal. On the opposite shore, another tiger mauls its victim. The dark night sky and craggy rocks heighten the tension of the scene. An amazing woodblock with a great dramatic subject, beautifully detailed and shaded. A wonderful choice for collectors interested in the samurai tradition.
Artist – Kuniyoshi (1797 – 1861)
Image Size – 14 1/4″ x 29 3/4″
Condition – This print with excellent color and detail as shown. Three separate panels. A few small wormholes, repaired. A few creases. Please see photos for details.
Master of the incongruous, artist Kuniyoshi (1797-1861), must have laughed at his own creation. The threatening, screaming samurai with a cute bunny rabbit helmet. The first time I saw this print as a small black and white illustration in B.W. Robinson’s excellent book, Kuniyoshi: The Warrior Prints (1982 Cornell University Press), I laughed out loud. It makes me wish I lived 200 years ago so that I could have known such a hilarious person.
Information follows from Fujiarts.com website:
Series; Japanese Heroes for the Twelve Signs, 1854
Hare: Shinozuka Iga no Kami – Terrific portrait of the legendary samurai Shinozuka Iga no Kami, a retainer of the Nitta Clan renowned for his great strength. He is shown standing on the shore during a battle, the sea raging behind him as he grips a spear with both hands. His mouth is open in a ferocious yell, the flowing white mane of his battle helmet adding to his fierce appearance. The rocky ground below is littered with broken arrows and a fallen standard. Beautifully detailed with subtle burnishing on the black armor and delicate embossing on the flowing white wig of the helmet which is topped with Shinozuka’s emblem of a golden hare. A bold Kuniyoshi warrior design.
Artist – Kuniyoshi (1797 – 1861)
Image Size – 14 1/8″ x 9 5/8″
Artist Kuniyoshi presents actor Ichikawa Danjuro VIII representing poetess Ono no Komachi in a legendary act (explanation below from the Fujiarts.com website). It’s intriguing that a male actor portrays a woman writer. Any excuse to use the popular actor helped print sales. As with so many works of Kuniyoshi, layers upon layers of association are wrapped in beautiful imagery. Danjuro VIII is an actor who “parrots” a playwright ‘s words. The actor was a famous beauty, and so was the poetess Komachi. Komachi was a historical figure; Kabuki plays are often based on history.
Series; Modern Seven Komachi, 1851
Modern Seven Komachi – Handsome design from an 1851 Kuniyoshi series depicting kabuki actors in scenes associated with the famous ninth-century poetess Ono no Komachi. The subjects are taken from a series of seven Noh plays (Nanakomachi) dealing with legendary events during the beauty’s life. A rarely seen series and an interesting choice for a Kuniyoshi collector.
Parrot: Ichikawa Danjuro VIII – Terrific image of Ichikawa Danjuro VIII sitting on a platform over a river, painting folding fans. He looks over his shoulder with a sly expression, a brush in hand and a portable writing set on the tatami mat next to him. Misty clouds rise form the swirling water, with mountains in the distance. The “parrot” episode refers to a poem of pity that the emperor sent to the elderly Komachi. She changed one word of the verse, completely altering its meaning, and returned it to the emperor, demonstrating her wit even though she was “parroting” his words. A lovely composition with beautiful color and detail, and fine bokashi shading.
Artist – Kuniyoshi (1797 – 1861)
Image Size – 13 3/4″ x 9 1/2″
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) is my favorite Japanese print ukiyo-e artist. His draftsmanship, color, and imagination alone mark him as a genius. Although he lived in a time when Japan, as many countries, attempted to subjugate women … Kuniyoshi seems to be, if not a femnist, sensitive and respectful.
This print, that I bought today, is described on the Fujiarts.com website as:
Urazato, Katsumi, and Midori, 1847 – 1852 – Interesting kabuki scene of the courtesan Urazato and her two young kamuro or child apprentices in the snow. Urazato’s employer had forbidden her to see her sweetheart, Tokijiro, and when he discovered they had been meeting, he beat her and left her tied up in the garden in winter. Here, the beauty smiles as she looks up as the couple’s daughter, Midori, shelters her mother from the falling snow with a large hat. Her other kamuro, Katsumi, clings to her knee. A sweet moment between the mother and daughter despite the circumstances, nicely captured with expressive figures and an attractive setting.
Artist – Kuniyoshi (1797 – 1861)
Image Size – 14 3/8″ x 9 3/4″ + margins as shown
Condition – This print with excellent color and detail as shown. Diagonal folds. Creasing and wrinkling, slight toning and soiling. Please see photos for details.
Super Happy World 