Ducks attack lizard
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Watanabe Print
- Image courtesy of
- Watanabe Print
Description
The confrontation between ducks and a lizard belongs to the tradition of comic or unexpected animal interactions that Kyosai explored throughout his career, often with satirical undertones. Waterfowl — mallards, mandarin ducks, or domestic breeds — were familiar kacho-e subjects, but pairing them aggressively against a reptile subverts the genre's decorative norms. Kyosai's animal drawings were noted for their kinetic energy, and this print likely depicts the ducks in aggressive, forward-lunging postures. The composition may carry allegorical dimensions consistent with Kyosai's satirical visual practice, in which animal groupings stood in for social or political dynamics. Technically, the interlocking forms of birds and reptile would have required careful block design.
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
Gontazaka, 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 no uchi
Woodblock print
More Birds & Flowers Prints
Frequently Asked Questions
Ducks attack lizard was created by Kawanabe Kyosai (河鍋暁斎).
Ducks attack lizard depicts birds & flowers.