Picture of Giant Elephant (Ozo zu), from the series Camera Views (Shashinkyo)

Picture of Giant Elephant (Ozo zu), from the series Camera Views (Shashinkyo)

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Utagawa Yoshiiku

Yoshiiku was a major student of Kuniyoshi. He experimented with Western drawing techniques and interpreted photography for the woodblock medium to produce some of his most notable print work. All the designs from this series have a distinctive border that looks like an elaborate picture frame. Picture of Giant Elephant demonstrates interest not only in Western picture techniques and depictions of foreigners, but also in the concurrent fascination with animals that were not indigenous to the Japanese archipelago. The wrinkled skin and four nostrils in the trunk, as well as the odd scale, are likely due to the artist’s lack of exposure to the animal. The unnatural poses of the figures suggests that the overall composition is a composite of elements from a variety of illustrated sources. This series is also unusual because many extant prints, including this one, have a layer of wax applied to the surface to achieve a gloss similar to that on an oil painting or photograph.
Artist
Utagawa Yoshiiku
(Japanese, 1833 - 1904)
Title
Picture of Giant Elephant (Ozo zu), from the series Camera Views (Shashinkyo)
Date
1861
Medium
Color woodcut
Dimensions
327 x 200 mm Image
Credit
John H. Van Vleck Endowment Fund purchase
Accession No.
2004.61
Classification
Prints
Geography
Japan

Related

  • Mueller, Laura. "Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School." Leiden, The Netherlands: Hotei Publishing, 2007. p. 192, no. 183

  • Utagawa: Masters of the Japanese Print, 1770-1900: Chazen Museum of Art, 11/2/2009–11/26/2009
  • Utagawa: Masters of the Japanese Print, 1770-1900 : Chazen Museum of Art, 3/21/2008–6/15/2008
  • Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School: Chazen Museum of Art, 11/3/2007–1/6/2008

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