Nikuhitsu Shunga (3 results)

Soft cover. Condition: Fine. 175 p. ; 29 cm. Text in Japanese.

Painted oblong handscrolls (makimono), ca. 370 x 290 mm, comprising 11 (of a probable 12) scenes. Ink and colour on silk paper, possibly by Mano Gyotei (1874-1934), a pupil of Kawanabe Gyosai (1831-89). Individually matted in contemporary turquoise paper passe-partouts with a gold border. Stored in a modern black cloth case. Rare Kobayashi erotic scenes showcasing the artist's renowned technical virtuosity and juxtaposition of colour, form and detail. Though clearly drawing on the tradition of animal shunga exemplified by Hokusai's famous "The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife" (1814), Kobayashi's penchant for depicting supernatural beasts and wild animals in copulatory poses with women brings a new theme to the already diverse shunga genre in the later 19th century; the unusual iconography testifies to the known artist's eccentric character. - Born in Edo, Kobayashi Eitaku trained under Kano Eitoku and later served the Ii family of Hikone as official painter, receiving samurai status before turning, after the Meiji Restoration, to newspaper illustration for the Yokohama Mainichi Shinbun. - Since the 17th century, shunga has been an integral part of printed art (ukiyo-e) and has played a significant role in the career of several famous artists, despite repeated governmental attempts to suppress it until the start of the Meiji period, in 1868, after which it eventually died out due to the introduction of Western culture and technologies. - The present scenes use the discreet format customary for shunga, yet depart from conventional erotic albums by introducing wild and numinous creatures, including a mole, bat, fox, monstrous frog, and other creatures related to Japanese folklore, without any obvious continuous narrative between the scenes. The album's force lies in painterly agency rather than its narrative: the artist sets bodies, garments, colour, and animal forms into startling juxtapositions, displaying a sophisticated spatial design with technical virtuosity. Kobayashi's shunga is extremely rare and often omitted from Meiji-era exhibitions, since the artist worked during the transition from the ukiyo-e tradition (mass-produced woodblock prints) to Nihon-ga (Japanese-style painting, drawing on that tradition). - Rare and outstanding erotic paintings on silk paper featuring supernatural scenes, appealingly displayed. - Possibly one image missing from the collection (of originally twelve). Irregular wear to the silk paper throughout; some signs of repairs. - From a French private collection.…

Tokyo, Yosensha, 2006. 30 : 23 cm. Ca. 280 p. with 230 colour reprod. Hardbound with illustr. dust wrapper. Spring Pictures and Hand-Painted Ukiyo-e is an authoritative 2006 art book co-authored by prominent Japanese art historian Kobayashi Tadashi and researcher Shirakura Yoshihiko. Published by Yosensha in Tokyo, the comprehensive volume presents over 230 full-color, unabridged masterworks focusing on Japanese erotic woodblock prints (shunga) and original hand-painted (nikuhitsu) paintings from the Edo period. Sprache: jp.…