YOSHITOSHI TSUKIOKA (1839 - 1892)
LE FOND DU SEAU
The bottom of the bucket filled by Lady Chiyo has fallen, the moon no longer has a place in the waterChiyodono ga | itadaku oke no | soko nuketemisu tamari tewa | tsuki mo yadorazu #74From the sequel: Tsuki No hyakushi (The Hundred Aspects of the Moon)1889Publisher: Akiyama Buemon (Kokkeido)Seal:TaisoEngraver: EnkatsuObannishiki-eGood proof with embossings, beautiful colors, a few folds and slight dusting in the upper border, some tiny foxing."The poet Chiyo was born in 1703 in the province of Kaga. The daughter of an art framer, she studied painting and calligraphy with local masters; some of her works have come down to us. She began composing haikus at the age of fifteen, and was soon noticed by Shikõ, a master in the subject, who made her his disciple. We know that she received following the visits of many great poets, and acquired a great reputation before becoming a nun in 1754.His most famous poem is about a bucket. Coming to fetch water from her well early in the morning, she notices that a climbing plant has launched its tendrils in the night to attack the rope. It is an asagao, literally “morning face”, either a bindweed or an ipomoea. To save the flowers, she goes to get supplies from her neighbor, and composes the haiku:asagao nitsurube toraretemoraimizubindweedgrabbed my bucket so I asked for water.It is in reference to this anecdote that the asagao, widely used as an ornamental plant, is often planted in a bucket.These are the associations of ideas on which the poem given in title plays.The poem is written in the spirit of kyoka, literally "crazy verses", a humorous form of tanka which often accompanied surimono type prints from the early 19th century.It perhaps dates back to this period, unless it is due to a contemporary of Yoshitoshi - or even to Yoshitoshi himself.Chiyo's toilet goes back to the beginning of the 18th century, a time when artof the textile reached heights of refinement and virtuosity with the presence of numerous floral motifs, large and asymmetrical, like those that Chiyo wears here at mid-body. The small repetitive patterns on the top and bottom of her kimono came into fashion in the following years. Her hairstyle and the wooden geta she wears refer to the same period.Among the susuki herbs grows a persimmon tree loaded with ripe persimmons, whose shape flatters the roundness.The combination of reeds, persimmon and chrysanthemums on the kimono indicates that this full moon is not the eighth, that of the harvest, but the ninth, at the edge of winter.If Chiyo became a nun, it was in particular to escape the restrictions imposed on women during the Edo period. After taking the tonsure, she continued to write poems sensitive to the beauties of nature and also to feminine affects. Her haikus remained famous after her death, and she is included in numerous painted or engraved portraits of famous poets. A charming print by Kuniyoshi shows her surrounded by flowering bindweed."In: ONE HUNDRED ASPECTS OF THE MOON, J..
680.00 €
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 €
