YOSHITOSHI TSUKIOKA (1839 - 1892)
PATROUILLE AU CLAIR DE LUNE, SAITO TOSHIMITSU
No. 8 from the series: Tsuki no hyakushi (One Hundred Aspects of the Moon)1885Seal: TaisoObannishiki-eFine impression with embossing, some handling creases in the outer edges.Eighteen months after Hideyoshi's victorious assault on Mount Inaba, Oda Nobunaga had gained control of most of Japan, but cities and countryside teemed with potential rivals. This print again deals with the Saito clan of Mino Province, whose castle had not yet been razed, and whose loyalty to Nobunaga remained uncertain.It depicts an episode from the Taikōki, the "Chronicle of the Taikō." This title of taikō, meaning "regent," was the one Hideyoshi had assumed. Toshimitsu was a Saito general. His father, Kuranosuke, was one of the principal vassals of Akechi Mitsuhide (1526-1582). As a reward for his allegiance to Nobunaga, Mitsuhide had received a large fief; but soon, Nobunaga publicly reproached him for the destruction of Yakami Castle and the massacre of all its occupants. Wounded in his pride, he alleged in his defense that the lord of the castle had murdered his mother.At a banquet, Nobunaga—who was drunk—humiliated him again by striking his head with a fan to mock his baldness. Mitsuhide waited for the first opportunity to redeem his honor. This came in the summer of 1582 when Nobunaga, based at Honnoji Temple in Kyoto, sent the bulk of his troops to reinforce Hideyoshi, who was campaigning in the western province of Bithu. Mitsuhide marched toward Bithu at the head of his thirty thousand men, but, suddenly urging them to turn back with the cry, "The enemy is at Honnoji!" (that is, at Honnoji Temple), he ordered them to march on Kyoto. Nobunaga was taken by surprise in his headquarters and massacred.Having unsuccessfully urged Mitsuhide to renounce such treachery, Toshimitsu and his father resigned themselves to following him as loyal vassals. Here we see Toshimitsu on his reconnaissance mission: heavily armed, he advances one full moon night to the Kamo River, which is to lead the conspirators to the heart of Kyoto and to Nobunaga's hideout. His main weapon is a naginata, a spear with a long, curved blade. In the distance, the last rays of the sun still paint the sky pink.Akechi Mitsuhide's triumph would be short-lived: two weeks later, he would be defeated by Hideyoshi and killed by bandits. As for the two Saito brothers, they would flee but would be quickly captured (the rest of their adventures appear later in the series). The father would be put to death, and Toshimitsu would become a monk.Although the very low viewpoint suggests the effect of a snapshot, the composition probably owes nothing to photography. The reference is rather to be found within the ukiyo-e tradition itself: Yoshitoshi seems to be making a subtle allusion to the figures and landscapes of Hiroshige, sometimes seen from the rump of a horse. Yoshitoshi himself knew how to surprise with his compositions: this is evidenced by an early print where the left edge cuts off most of a figure. Mid-19th..
1,000.00 €
MINAMOTO NO TAMETOMO
The great archer Chinzei Hachiro Minamoto Tametomo with two islanders from the island of Oniga-ShimaFrom the sequel: Yoshitoshi Musha buruiThe brave warriorsEdited by Maruya Tetsujirô1886Beautiful proof in very fresh colours, some scattered foxing mainly visible in the top margins, pinched fold in the upper border.Legend has it that Minamoto Tametomo (1139-1170) from a young age was an extremely skilled archer. Nearly seven feet tall and with a left arm four inches longer than his right, Tametomo used a seven and a half foot bow. Tametomo had a very wild and unpredictable character. At just fifteen years old, and without the emperor's permission, he conquered and took control of the island of Kyushu.Following the Hogen War (1156) in which he took part, Tametomo was sent into exile by the emperor on the island of Oshima (Izu province) where he gradually established himself as a local ruler.The print illustrates the moment when Tametomo discovered a nearby island, Oni-ga-shima, by following the flight of herons in a boat. The strange inhabitants were believed to be descendants of demons, but Tametomo subjugated them by impressing them with his strength.In 1170, the emperor sent the governor of Izu and his men to apprehend Tametomo. The hero sank the lead ship with a single arrow shot, but then decided to offer his bow to the Dragon King of the Sea and set his house on fire. By cutting his abdomen with his dagger, he would have initiated the tradition of honorable seppuku (ritual suicide)...
350.00 €
LA LUNE DE LA MONTAGNE DE KINTOKI
Kintoki-yama no tsukiThe boy with legendary strength, Kintoki, acting as referee in the sumo match between a monkey and a rabbit.N° 87 from the set: Tsuki No hyakushi (One Hundred Aspects of the Moon)1890ObanNishiki-eGood proof, tiny dirt on the outer borders, embossing in the white of one of the cartridges and in the rabbit's fur.Kintoki's father, a dissolute ronin, abandoned him at his birth on Mount Ashigara, not far from Fuji. He was taken in and raised by Yamauba, the woman-spirit who inhabited the mountains and embodied, in certain respects, the feminine side of primal savagery. She named him Kintarõ, the “Golden Boy”. He grew up among the mountain animals and the tengu, the birdmen who taught Yoshitsune martial arts. The child learned a lot from their contact, and quickly developed prodigious strength.One day when the warrior Yorimitsu, also called Raiko, was hunting in the vicinity of Mount Ashigara, an extraordinarily robust child, with skin the color of brick, suddenly appeared to him. He was uprooting a large tree to make a bridge that would allow the animals, his friends, to cross the river. Stunned, Yorimitsu convinced Yamauba to let him take the child to make him a hero.Renamed Kintoki, the young man became one of Raiko's four main lieutenants, proving his strength and bravery on many occasions. Yoshitoshi shows him battling monsters and demons in a multitude of prints. Perhaps the most famous example is the 1886 diptych from the Yoshitoshi manga series, where a superbly drawn spider-woman weaves her golden web around the sleeping Kintoki. The two characters in Kintoki's name mean "gold" and "time", but as with many Japanese names, the idea of a literal translation is somewhat futile. This change of name should above all be interpreted as marking the transition from boy to man.In ukiyo-e, Kintarõ is usually depicted in the company of mountain animals. We also see him as a wrestler, throwing a bear to the ground. Here he referees a parody of hand-to-hand combat between a monkey and a rabbit, two animals that we saw playing together in Sun Wukong's evocation. The color of his skin refers to his name - Kuniyoshi already liked to use shades of red to flatter the roundness of his body. Dressed as a boy, he displays the rolls of flesh which, in the minds of the Japanese and Chinese, denote a healthy child.His face beaming with happiness, Kintarõ watches his friends play. A branch of persimmon tree is placed between him and the animals: its persimmons perhaps allude to the fruits that the monkey stole from the immortals, or to the extraordinary powers of Kintaro. The fruit pigment has oxidized, taking on an interesting surface texture.The grain of the wood gives body to the rock, and the rabbit's coat is beautifully embossed.In : CENT ASPECTS DE LA LUNE, John STEVENSON, 2018, Editions Citadelles et MAZENODThe set “One Hundred Aspects of the Moon”, inspired by historical or legendary stories from China and Japan, is Yoshitoshi's most famo..
1,200.00 €
LUNE DU DRAP QU'ON BAT
Yugiri kinuta no tsuki #84From the sequel: Tsuki No hyakushi (The Hundred Aspects of the Moon)1890Publisher: Akiyama Buemon (Kokkeido)Seal: YoshitoshiEngraver: EnkatsuObannishiki-eGood proof, beautiful colors, a few folds in the upper border, some scattered foxing."In the nô play Kinuta (named after the roll of wood on which the sheet was beaten), a man from Kyüshü has been held in the capital for three years, awaiting a legal verdict. Nostalgic for his distant western island, he sends his servant Yúgiri to assure his wife that he will be back within the year. The wife is delighted by Yúgiri's visit, but longs for her husband. The two women hear then the sound of the sheet being beaten to wash or soften it. This is an obvious allusion to a poem from Tang China, in which a man hears despite the distance his wife beating the sheet while waiting for him. Yugiri brings a kinuta to console her mistress, who joins her in the nevertheless servile task of beating the sheet.When a new message arrives informing her that her husband will not return within a year, the woman goes crazy and dies of grief. Finally allowed to return home, the man learns of the death of his wife. His spirit appears to overwhelm him, but he manages to soothe it by chanting the Lotus Sutra - some sects believe that one can achieve salvation by repeating the name of this sutra alone.In the print, the wife beats the sheet, wrapped around her kinuta, with a wooden mallet.Obviously distant and absorbed in her work, she turns her back on Yugiri, who lowers her head. Instead of suggesting the comfort that the servant thought she brought, the image gives a feeling of overwhelm.The painted decoration of the screen, a bush of lespedezes in flower under the full moon, evokes autumn. The clear vertical lines on the left side reveal the structure of the panels. The background is otherwise totally abstract, reduced to a light gray wash which sinks into the darkness. If the servant's modern outfit is quite incongruous, the mistress wears an opulent dress worthy of a Noh costume. We glimpse a tabi, a tailor-made sock separating the big toe.The name Yügiri, which means "evening mist", is worn by many figures in Japanese culture, starting with the prince's son in Genji monogatari."In: ONE HUNDRED ASPECTS OF THE MOON, John STEVENSON, 2018, Editions Citadelles and MAZENODThe suite of “One Hundred Aspects of the Moon”, inspired by historical or legendary stories from China and Japan, is Yoshitoshi's most famous series, begun in 1885 and completed just before his death in 1892. Already at the time, each new print published was an event, the prints often selling out on the morning of their publication...
580.00 €
