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A picture of a tiger, 1860 by Kawanabe Kyosai — Japanese Woodblock print

A picture of a tiger, 1860

by Kawanabe Kyosai

Medium:
Woodblock print
Format:
Oban
Source:
harashobo

Description

An early depiction of a tiger from 1860, produced when Kyosai was still in his late twenties but already demonstrating his extraordinary gift for rendering powerful animals. Japanese artists of this period worked from indirect sources — skins, stuffed specimens, Chinese paintings — since live tigers were rarely if ever seen in Japan, which gives the best tiger images of the era a fascinating quality: anatomically improbable by Western naturalist standards, yet alive with mythological force. Kyosai's tiger conveys the animal's essence rather than its literal appearance.

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Frequently Asked Questions

A picture of a tiger, 1860 was created by Kawanabe Kyosai (河鍋暁斎).

A picture of a tiger, 1860 depicts animals.