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Kogakure Kiritaro Saving Seiriki's Life at Otawara, from the series Suikoden of the Tenpo Era

Kogakure Kiritaro Saving Seiriki's Life at Otawara, from the series Suikoden of the Tenpo Era

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Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

The scene in this triptych is loosely based on the historical tale entitled Suikoden of the Tenpo Era, which documented a major underground feud involving the Japanese mafia in 1844. True to his fascination with the macabre, Yoshitoshi creates a violent scene set just outside holy Shinto ground, denoted by the distinctive orange torii gate behind the figures. The full moon and rising smoke add to the eerie calm. A striking detail is the inclusion of rifles, which were first introduced to Japan in the sixteenth century by Portuguese merchants. Though they were frequently used in battle, they rarely appeared in ukiyo-e prints. Use of shimmering mica and burnished black printing on the robes and rifles add to the overall appeal of the composition.
Artist
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
(Japanese, 1839 - 1892)
Title
Kogakure Kiritaro Saving Seiriki's Life at Otawara, from the series Suikoden of the Tenpo Era
Date
1884
Medium
Color woodcut
Dimensions
360 x 735 mm Image
Credit
John H. Van Vleck Endowment Fund purchase
Accession No.
2004.58a-c
Classification
Prints
Geography
Japan

Related

  • Mueller, Laura. "Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School." Leiden, The Netherlands: Hotei Publishing, 2007. p. 212, no. 208

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

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