True Picture of a Live Wild Tiger
- Date:
- Late Edo period, sixth month of 1860
- Medium:
- Yokohama woodblock print in ōban format; ink and color on paper
- Format:
- Oban
- Dimensions:
- 36 × 24.4 cm
- Source:
- Harvard Art Museums
Description
A remarkable large-format yokohama print from the sixth month of 1860 — the very year Japan opened its treaty ports to Western trade — depicting a living wild tiger, drawn from life or near-life by Kyosai when tigers were still a sensation capable of drawing enormous crowds. The print documents a specific moment of cross-cultural wonder: Japan encountering the great cats of Asia at close quarters for the first time, and Kyosai, then twenty-nine, recording the encounter with a combination of naturalistic ambition and dramatic composition that became his standard approach to animal subjects.
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 Animals Prints
Snake Charmers (Hebizukai)
Hebizukai
1932
Color woodblock print; oban
Hoshifuri Pine at Zen'yoji Temple in Edogawa (Edogawa-ku Zen'yoji Hoshifuri matsu), from the series "One Hundred Views of Great Tokyo in the Showa Era (Showa dai Tokyo fukei hyaku zue hanga)"
1935
Color woodblock print; oban
Drawing for Rabbit and Boy
1964
Acrylic paint and oil pastel with oiled charcoal and ink over an ink and graphite underdrawing on paper
Rabbit and Boy
1964
Color lithograph with relief block and hand coloring; edition 35/36
Frequently Asked Questions
True Picture of a Live Wild Tiger was created by Kawanabe Kyosai (河鍋暁斎) in Late Edo period, sixth month of 1860.
True Picture of a Live Wild Tiger depicts animals.
True Picture of a Live Wild Tiger measures 36 × 24.4 cm (Oban format).