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- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Waseda University
- Image courtesy of
- Waseda University
Description
The title of this Kawanabe Kyosai woodblock print has not been confirmed in available records. Kyosai's illustrated books and single-sheet prints from the 1860s through the 1880s cover subjects ranging from classical poetry illustration and landscape to scenes of contemporary Meiji life and political satire — the last of which brought him into repeated conflict with authorities. His series Kyosai rakuga (Kyosai's Rough Sketches) and various manga-format collections demonstrate his facility with rapid, expressive figure drawing in a register closer to caricature than to the polished bijin-ga tradition. The present print, executed in nishiki-e polychrome on washi, represents Kyosai's engagement with the commercial woodblock print format that remained central to popular visual culture throughout his career.