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The Swordsman Sakakibara Kenkichi Walking in the Mountains, no. 2 from the series Kyōsai Scribbles

The Swordsman Sakakibara Kenkichi Walking in the Mountains, no. 2 from the series Kyōsai Scribbles

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Kawanabe Kyōsai

Focus on the supernatural grew in Japanese culture during the late-nineteenth century with depictions of ghosts, skeletons, and animals as main subjects. In this print, the artist Kyosai combined the already popular subject of warriors with this new fascination with the paranormal. The fanciful scene depicts Sakakibara Kenkichi, a famous swordsman and legendary teacher, renowned for fighting in the presence of the Meiji emperor. Ghosts and wild animals surround Kenkichi on a mountain path, but the muscular warrior deftly defends himself using a closed fan instead of his sword.
Artist
Kawanabe Kyōsai
(Japanese, 1831 - 1889)
Title
The Swordsman Sakakibara Kenkichi Walking in the Mountains, no. 2 from the series Kyōsai Scribbles
Date
1874
Medium
Color woodcut
Dimensions
345 x 227 mm Image
Credit
John H. Van Vleck Endowment Fund purchase
Accession No.
2004.40
Classification
Prints
Geography
Japan

Related

  • Mueller, Laura. "Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School." Leiden, The Netherlands: Hotei Publishing, 2007. p. 209, no. 203

  • 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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