Goblins

Goblins is a print by Kawanabe Kyosai that plunges into the world of Japanese supernatural folklore, a realm that Kyosai inhabited with particular relish throughout his career. Created before 1870, the work depicts creatures from the rich bestiary of yokai, the ghosts, demons, shape-shifters, and mischievous spirits that populate Japanese mythology. Kyosai, known as "the demon of painting" for his wild energy and prodigious output, brought to these supernatural subjects a combination of precise draftsmanship and anarchic humor. His goblins are never merely frightening; they cavort, drink, argue, and make fools of themselves in ways that blur the line between horror and comedy. The oban-format print belongs to Kyosai's pre-1870 output, produced during the final years of the Edo period or the first years of the Meiji era, when traditional supernatural imagery coexisted with the rapid modernization of Japanese society.