-
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Image courtesy of
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
Description
An untitled woodblock print from Kawanabe Kyosai's prolific output, this work reflects the artist's training under both Utagawa Kuniyoshi and the Kano school painter Kano Tokinobu. Kyosai's prints in this unnumbered category frequently depict supernatural or comic subjects rendered with abbreviated, energetic brushwork translated into the woodblock medium. The bold line work characteristic of his style — derived from his lifelong practice of rapid ink painting — would be evident in the carving, with blocky forms and confident contours replacing the finicky detail typical of his contemporaries. The colour printing employs flat areas with selective bokashi gradation to suggest volume or atmospheric depth without overworking the surface.
More Prints by Kawanabe Kyosai

Tenpôzan in Osaka: Viewing Children's Sumo (Naniwa Tenpôzan kodomo sumô shôran), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô
1863
Woodblock print

Kyosai, Royal Academy, London, FREE DOMESTIC SHIPPING
2022
Original Museum Lithographic Exhibition Poster
from the series One Hundred Pictures by Kyôsai (Kyôsai hyakuzu)
Woodblock print
Old Picture of the Rashômon Gate (Rashômon no ko zu), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô meisho tsuzuki
Woodblock print
Frequently Asked Questions
- was created by Kawanabe Kyosai (河鍋暁斎).