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A free platform for exploring Japanese woodblock prints from the shin-hanga, sosaku-hanga, and ukiyo-e traditions.

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Kawanabe Kyosai
Kyōsai's Idle Drawings

Kyōsai's Idle Drawings by Kawanabe Kyosai — Japanese Woodblock printed book, ink and color on paper, 1881

Kyōsai's Idle Drawings

by Kawanabe Kyosai

Meiji/Taishō Prints

Figures Calligraphy

Date:: 1881
Medium:: Woodblock printed book, ink and color on paper
Format:: Oban
Dimensions:: 17.5 × 0.6 cm
Source:

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Typical Price

Uncommon or exceptional Kyosai subject in fine condition: $1,000–$5,000
Good condition standard woodblock print: $300–$1,500
Common or lesser subject: $100–$500

Description

A woodblock-printed book titled "Kyosai's Idle Drawings," published in 1881 and collecting the artist's most relaxed and experimental work — the sketches and caricatures he produced when not bound by commission or subject. The rakuga ("idle drawing") tradition gave artists permission to follow their imagination wherever it led, and Kyosai's idle drawings are among the most revealing documents of his creative mind: full of private jokes, unexpected juxtapositions, and subjects too strange or personal for formal publication.

More Prints by Kawanabe Kyosai

from the series One Hundred Pictures by Kyôsai (Kyôsai hyakuzu) by Kawanabe Kyosai

from the series One Hundred Pictures by Kyôsai (Kyôsai hyakuzu)

Woodblock print

Old Picture of the Rashômon Gate (Rashômon no ko zu), 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 tsuzuki by Kawanabe Kyosai

Old Picture of the Rashômon Gate (Rashômon no ko zu), 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 tsuzuki

Woodblock print

Tsukishimadera Temple in Hyôgo (Hyôgo Tsukishimadera), 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 by Kawanabe Kyosai

Tsukishimadera Temple in Hyôgo (Hyôgo Tsukishimadera), 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

from the series One Hundred Pictures by Kyôsai (Kyôsai hyakuzu) by Kawanabe Kyosai

from the series One Hundred Pictures by Kyôsai (Kyôsai hyakuzu)

Woodblock print

More Figures Prints

Shamyris, Shôwa period, dated 1965? by Hideo Hagiwara

Shamyris, Shôwa period, dated 1965?

Woodblock print

Celebrating the Good Harvest: Felicitations for a Thousand Ages (Nôhônen, Chiyo no kotobuki) by Kawanabe Kyosai

Celebrating the Good Harvest: Felicitations for a Thousand Ages (Nôhônen, Chiyo no kotobuki)

Woodblock print

Midas, Shôwa period, dated 1965? by Hideo Hagiwara

Midas, Shôwa period, dated 1965?

Woodblock print

Gundari Myôô, Shôwa period, dated 1962 by Kihei Sasajima

Gundari Myôô, Shôwa period, dated 1962

Woodblock print

Frequently Asked Questions

Kyōsai's Idle Drawings was created by Kawanabe Kyosai (河鍋暁斎) in 1881.

Kyōsai's Idle Drawings depicts figures and calligraphy.

Kyōsai's Idle Drawings measures 17.5 × 0.6 cm (Oban format).