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「新説連画帖」 「三」 by Kawanabe Kyosai — Japanese Woodblock print

「新説連画帖」 「三」

by Kawanabe Kyosai

Medium:
Woodblock print
Image courtesy of
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Description

The third installment of Kyōsai's satirical sequential picture album series Shinsetsu Rengajō (New Explanations Picture Album), published in the early Meiji period. Rengajō format allowed Kyōsai to deploy linked narrative panels, a structure well suited to his talent for building comedic or grotesque tension across images. This volume likely continues a running theme from the preceding sheets — possibly featuring supernatural creatures, animals acting as humans, or pointed commentary on contemporary social upheaval. Kyōsai's brushwork in such publications retains the spontaneous, unrestrained quality of his ink painting practice, with woodblock carvers faithfully capturing his fluid line quality and expressive exaggeration. The series title's emphasis on 'new explanations' suggests a satirical reframing of familiar subjects through Kyōsai's irreverent lens.

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Frequently Asked Questions

「新説連画帖」 「三」 was created by Kawanabe Kyosai (河鍋暁斎).