Hanga
「新説連画帖」 「二」 by Kawanabe Kyosai — Japanese Woodblock print

「新説連画帖」 「二」

by Kawanabe Kyosai

Medium:
Woodblock print
Image courtesy of
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Description

The second volume of Kyōsai's Shinsetsu Rengajō (New Explanations Picture Album), a sequential print series that allowed the artist to develop linked visual narratives across multiple sheets. Published during the social turbulence of the early Meiji era, this series reflects Kyōsai's sustained engagement with popular print formats as vehicles for humor and satire. Rengajō volumes were sold individually or as sets, and their sequential structure rewarded readers who collected the full run. Kyōsai's characteristic line — energetic and calligraphic, rooted in decades of Kanō school training — would be evident throughout, with figures rendered with confident economy. The series likely encompasses supernatural beings, historical parody, or social observation rendered through Kyōsai's distinctively antic imagination.

More Prints by Kawanabe Kyosai

Frequently Asked Questions

「新説連画帖」 「二」 was created by Kawanabe Kyosai (河鍋暁斎).