-
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Image courtesy of
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
Description
An untitled woodblock print from Kawanabe Kyosai's extensive catalogue, this sheet likely dates from the artist's mature Meiji-period production. Kyosai's prints in this range frequently draw on the vocabulary of his gacho (rapid sketching) practice, in which figures, animals, and demons were captured in a few decisive strokes before the design was handed to block-cutters. The resulting woodblock lines retain a spontaneity unusual in the medium. A two- or three-colour scheme was common for prints of this type, with indigo, red, and yellow ochre applied from separate blocks, each contributing to a design that reads as direct and immediate rather than labouriously built up.