A Picture Contest — 絵合
by Ebina Masao
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Source:
- Japanese Art Open Database
by Ebina Masao
$200–$1,500. Common prints: $200–$500. Key value factors: Ebina's prints are modestly priced and accessible to beginning collectors of Japanese creative prints.
"A Picture Contest" (Eawase) is Chapter 17 of The Tale of Genji, in which a competition is held between two teams presenting albums of paintings — a narrative device that allowed Murasaki Shikibu to reflect on the nature of visual art and its relationship to literature and truth. The chapter was one of the most complex in the novel's middle section, with Genji's own paintings competing against those from the rival court faction. Ebina's print captures the formal spectacle of the contest — the elegant presentation of albums, the assembled court, the charged competitive atmosphere of Heian aesthetic rivalry.
A Picture Contest — 絵合 was created by Ebina Masao (海老名正夫).
A Picture Contest — 絵合 depicts figures, daily life, and interiors.
