Posts by Richard Kruml:
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
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A triptych showing the priest Iwakura Sogen in a snowy garden. “Snow” from a set of three half-length portraits of actors with title: Setsugekka no uchi, “Snow, Moon, and Flowers.” Sogen was infatuated with the beautiful courtesan Irokotohime. He broke his vow of chastity and was expelled from his temple. Unfortunately, Irokotohime dies and Sogen is left with just his memories. There are other versions of this story and a play with the actor Onoe Baiko V. Published by Akiyama Buemon, 1890.
Fine impression of the first edition with variegated and unaltered sub-cartouche. Fine colour and condition. Signed Yoshitoshi ga.
Status: Available
Katsushika HOKUSAI (1760-1849)
Click here to view image full size. old lady in a bath house and two of a seated and standing beauty. (These last two studies were copied many times by Hokusai’s pupils.) Provenance: Ex Hayashi collection, seal bottom right. Good condition. Status: Available
Attributed to Sugimura JIHEI (Active c. 1681-1703)
Click here to view image full size. A large-size hand-coloured print showing a couple in flagrante delicto from an untitled set of twelve prints published by Hangiya Chojiro, c. 1685. (There were in fact two alternative designs added making a total of fourteen sheets.) Most reference works give this set to Moronobu. However, Timothy Clark, […]
Attributed to Sugimura JIHEI (Active c. 1681-1703)
Click here to view image full size. A large-size hand-coloured print showing a couple in flagrante delicto from an untitled set of twelve prints published by Hangiya Chojiro, c. 1685. (There were in fact two alternative designs added making a total of fourteen sheets.) Most reference works give this set to Moronobu. However, Timothy Clark, […]
Hishikawa MORONOBU (?-1694)
Click here to view image full size. A large sumizuri-e print from a shunga set of twelve published c. 1680s. In each case the couples are enclosed in a Chinese-style fan border. A couple in flagrante delicto beside a tiger and bamboo screen. Moronobu was possibly the single most influential artist and pioneered the ukiyo-e […]
Hishikawa MORONOBU (?-1694
Click here to view image full size. A large sumizuri-e print from a shunga set of twelve published c. 1680s. In each case the couples are enclosed in a Chinese-style fan border. A couple in flagrante delicto, the women disturbed while threading a needle. Moronobu was possibly the single most influential artist and pioneered the […]
Hishikawa MORONOBU (?-1694)
Click here to view image full size. A large sumizuri-e print from a shunga set of twelve published c. 1680s. In each case the couples are enclosed in a Chinese-style fan border. A couple in flagrante delicto. Moronobu was possibly the single most influential artist and pioneered the ukiyo-e school. A painter, printmaker and illustrator. […]
Hishikawa MORONOBU (?-1694)
Click here to view image full size. A large sumizuri-e print from a shunga set of twelve published c. 1680s. In each case the couples are enclosed in a Chinese-style fan border. A couple in flagrante delicto. Moronobu was possibly the single most influential artist and pioneered the ukiyo-e school. A painter, printmaker and illustrator. […]
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. Shows Kintaro (aka Sakata Kaidomaru and Sakata no Kintoki) grappling with a giant carp. Kintaro, a child of herculean strength, was raised by a yama-uba on Mount Ashigara where he was befriended by the mountain animals. From the set Ikkai zuihitsu, “Essays by Yoshitoshi.” (Ikkai was an early […]
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. A fascinating print showing Kintoki (aka Kintaro and Sakata Kaidomaru) and yama-uba beneath a flowering cherry tree. Strong western elements are obvious in this design indicating a knowledge of (probably) Flemish Madonna and Child paintings or icons, Kintoki standing in for the child Jesus. Yama-uba is depicted as […]
Toyoharu KUNICHIKA (1835-1900)
Click here to view image full size. The actor Bando Hikosaburo V as Nikki Danjo from a set Goketsu kijutsu kurabe, “Competition of the Magicians.” Published by Matsui Eikichi, 1873/4. Hikosaburo played Nikki Danjo in the play Date zensei kuruwa kagami at the Murayama Theatre, 3/1872. The story relates how Nikki Danjo retrieves the list […]
Utagawa SADAKAGE (Fl. c. 1818-1844)
Click here to view image full size. An aizuri-e (blue print) showing a beauty bowing obsequiously with a cup of tea. Shi, “Samurai” from a set of the Four Estates: Shi, Samurai; No, Peasant; Ko, Artisan; Sho, Merchant. Published by Kawaguchiya Chozo, c. 1830s. These blue prints using the imported bero, Berlin blue (what we […]
Kobayashi KIYOCHIKA (1847-1915)
Click here to view image full size. A triptych Ujigawa Kajiwara Kagesue, Sasaki Takatsuna, miju uma. Yoshitsune is informed that Kiso no Yoshinaka is entrenched behind the natural defence of the Uji river, then in full flood. Yoshitsune calls on Kajiwara Kagesue and Sayemon-no-jo Sasaki Shiro Takatsuna to make an attempt at fording the river. […]
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. Jiki-tsuki-so: Kaei nenkan anego no fuzoku, “Looking as if Somebody is About to Arrive: The Appearance of a Fireman’s Wife in the Kaei Era [1848-1854].” A fireman’s wife waits for the return of the head of the household. From a set Thirty-two Aspects of Women published by Tsunashima […]
Katsukawa SHUN’EI (1762-1819)
Click here to view image full size. Shows the half-Chinese, half-Japanese hero Watonai overcomes a man-eating tiger in China by using a charm from the Ise Shrine. He holds a post with the characters reading Daijinga, “Grand Shrine” used in the inner and outer shrines at Ise. Published by Wakasaya Yoichi (Jakurindo), c 1810. Rare. […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. A poem by the celebrated poet Sutoku-in from the series Hyakunin isshu no uchi, “One Hundred Poems for One Hundred Poets” which was compiled in 1235 by Fujiwara Teiki (1162-1241). Shows the exiled Emperor Sutoku (1119-64) standing on a rocky outcrop above turbulent rapids. His wrath causes a […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. A fine large original drawing, sumi on thin paper, 12 x 18 in; 30.4 x 45,7 cms. Shows two awabi divers surrounded by crabs kneeling before a figure – possibly Empress Jingu – seated behind a dragon and surrounded by samurai. Provenance: Ex collection Dr. Julius Kurth (1870-1949), […]
Katsukawa SHUNSHO (1726-1793)
Click here to view image full size. The actor Otani Hiroji III as a samurai, one sword drawn and facing an adversary. Shunsho was the founder of the Katsukawa school and had many pupils (including Hokusai [Shunro]). He was a prolific designer of hosoban actor prints and produced some of the finest designs in this […]
Attributed to Suzuki HARUSHIGE (Shiba KOKAN 1747-1818)
Click here to view image full size. A winter scene with a young courtesan on an engawa gazing at an upturned ladle resting in a water basin formed from a hollow tree trunk. Behind her a young beauty peers out through the shoji. The scene calls to mind the Bell of Damnation (Muken no kane) […]
Torii KIYOHIRO (Active 1737-1776)
Torii KIYOHIRO Click here to view image full size. A large oban, 17.25 x 12.25 in; 44 x 35.2 cms, sumizuri-e with hand-applied colour. Shows two ama, abalone divers, on the seashore with nets in the background , abalone shells at their feet and an octopus in the waves below them. The poem above speaks […]
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. Kintaro rigyo o toru, “Kintaro Captures the Carp.” The “golden boy” of superhuman strength, a.k.a. Sakata no Kintoki and Kaidomaru, grapples with a giant carp which had been terrorizing the neighbourhood. There are conflicting stories about Kintaro’s origins but he is normally shown with his mother, Yama-uba, on […]
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. A vertical diptych showing Rochishin demolishing the temple gate on Mount Godai. There are conflicting versions of this event: Some suggest he gained entry to kill a gang of thieves. However, it seems that he was drunkenly staggering back to the temple after consuming a large quantity of […]
Keisai EISEN (1790-1848)
Click here to view image full size. A vertical double oban showing a falcon on a pine branch with a large red sun above. This was a very popular subject and many artists produced versions in different formats. However, I cannot, at the moment, locate another impression of this design. Published by Kawaguchiya Uhei, c […]
Utagawa HIROSHIGE II (1826-1869)
Click here to view image full size. Enshu Akiba enkei Fukuroi tako. Fukuroi, Enshu (Totomi) Province from the “Hundred Views of Famous Places in the Provinces.” An uncompleted set of 81 prints published by Uoya Eikichi between 1859 – 1861 (this being 1859). Shows kite flying with a distant view of Mount Akiba. It has […]
Utagawa HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
Click here to view image full size. Tango, Ama no hashidate, “Tango [Province], Ama no hashidata” from Rokujuyoshu meisho zu, “Famous Views of the Sixty-odd Provinces” published by Koshimuraya Heisuke in 1853-56 (this being 1853). Shows the “Heaven’s Bridge” peninsula of pine trees extending into Miyazu Bay. One of the Nihon sankei, “Three Famous Views […]
Utagawa HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
Click here to view image full size. The Kinuta (or Toi) river in Settsu Province from Shokoku Mu Tamagawa, “Six Crystal Rivers in Various Provinces.” Published by Maruya Kyushiro, 1857. Shows two women fulling cloth beneath a full moon. An autumnal night activity. Kinuta is the name given to the mallet used to beat the […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. A dramatic shini-e (“memorial picture”) of the kabuki actor Nakamura Utaemon IV. Unsigned, as is usual with this sort of print, but the attribution to Kuniyoshi is certain: An original Kuniyoshi preparatory drawing for this print exists in the Rijksmuseum, Leiden (3513-663). Utaemon is shown in the role […]
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. Shows Endo Morito about to murder Kesa Gozen’s husband in his bedroom. Morito became enamoured of Kesa Gozen although she was married to a palace guard. She eventually succumbs to his advances on the condition that he kills her husband. However, she takes the place of her husband […]
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. Shows Kon Sosho (Chin. Gongsun Sheng), a famous character from the Chinese popular novel Tales of the Water Margin (Jap. Suikoden). A Taoist sorcerer known as “Dragon in the Clouds” he was able to conjure up wind and rain, as here, where he is seen standing on a […]
Utagawa KUNISADA (1786-1865)
Click here to view image full size. Momotaro, “Peach Boy” with two of his companions: the talking dog and monkey battling an oni on Onigashima. Momotaro invokes a storm with thunder and lightning using Raijin’s drums. The story relates how an old childless couple discovered the child in a peach floating down a river. They […]
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. A triptych Goketsu kijutsu kurabe, “A competition Among Powerful Magicians.” Published by Masadaya, 1869. A compilation of well known sorcerers, wizards and magicians. From right to left: Iwafuji Tsubone, Senkanja Yoshitora, Orochimaru, Otomo Wakanahime, Madamaru, Sumizu Kanja Yoshitaka, Mori Soiken, Kusunoki Goma-hime. Good impression, colour. Slight […]
Utagawa KUNIMASA II (KUNIMUNE II) (1792-1857)
Click here to view image full size. An original painting, full colour on silk, 38.75 x 14 in; 98.5 x 35.6 cms. Shows a beauty at a Satori no Mado (round window of enlightenment) unrolling a handscroll, a willow tree above. Kunimasa II was a pupil of Toyokuni and, apart from paintings, also designed surimono. […]
Santo KYODEN (Kitao MASANOBU) (1761-1816)
Click here to view image full size. A pair of original paintings, full colour on silk, image size 38.5 x 15.5 in; 97.75 x 39.5 cms. Shows a courtesan on the left with a portrait of a novelist on the right. The paintings are signed “By special request” and were presumably commissioned by the novelist […]
Cho GESSHO (1772-1832)
Click here to view image full size. A large original painting of moored junks caught in a violent squall. A fine painter who studied under Tanke Gessen and Matsumura Goshun in Kyoto before moving to Nagoya in 1798 and becoming Nagasawa Rosetsu’s assistant for a short time. Also illustrated some fine ehon. Sumi and colour […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. The poet Dainagon Tsunenobu (1016-97), seated at the window of his study having recited his most famous poem which speaks of the evening breeze in Autumn, is visited by an enormous ghost who screams a poem by the Chinese poet Bai Juyi (Jap: Hakuraten). From a set Hyakunin […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. A poem by the celebrated poet Oe no Chisato from the series Hyakunin isshu no uchi, “One Hundred Poems for One Hundred Poets” which was compiled in 1235 by Fujiwara Teiki (1162-1241). Shows two porters with an empty palanquin beneath a haloed moon. One of the best designs […]
Kobayashi KIYOCHIKA (1847-1915)
Click here to view image full size. A snow scene showing Sakura Sogoro, the leader of a peasant rebellion, kneeling to thank the ferryman Jinbei for the selfless deed of taking him across Lake Inba. Soga watashiba no zu from Choga kyoshin kai. Published by Matsuki Heikichi, 1884. Fine impression, colour and condition with extensive […]
Utagawa HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
Click here to view image full size. Kameido Tenmangu keidai no yuki, “The Compound of the Tenman Shrine at Kameido in Snow.” From a set of twenty-one prints Toto meisho, “Famous Views in the Eastern Capital” published by Sanoya Kihei, c 1834-5. The series was extended to fifty-five in c 1839-42. One of the most […]
Utagawa KUNISADA (1786-1864)
Click here to view image full size. A woman peering through a gap in a shoji from a set Arigataki miyo no kage e “Shadow Pictures for Our Blessed Times.” Published by Maruya Seijiro c. 1845-6 and is based on strong light sources shining on beauties. This chiaroscuro technique was pioneered by Shumman and used […]
Utagawa TOYOMARU (SHUNRO II) (Act. 1785-1797)
Click here to view image full size. The actor Onoe Matsusuke, probably in the role of Matsuo-maru in the play Sugawara denju tenarai kagami. Published c 1780s by Igaya Kan’emon (Bunkido). Fine impression, colour, and condition. Signed Toyomaru ga. Status: Available