Sumo match
by Ogata Gekko
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Source:
- Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna
Description
Sumo wrestling—Japan's oldest ritual sport, with roots in Shinto ceremony—provided Gekko with a subject that combined massive human physicality with the aesthetics of ritual performance. The two wrestlers in the moment of struggle, their bodies in the interlocked postures of technical grappling, gave him a dynamic composition uncommon in his bijin-ga-heavy output. The sumo match depicted the opposite of feminine refinement: pure muscular force organized by strict formal rules.
More Prints by Ogata Gekko
MORNING GLORIES AT IRIYA, TOKYO
Woodblock print
Nippon-damashii, Kyokaku 日本魂 侠客 / Gekko zuihitsu 月耕随筆
Woodblock print
Onodera Koemon Hidetomi 小野寺幸右衛門秀富 / Gishi shijushichi zu 義士四十七図
Woodblock print
Beauties Harvesting Bracken, from the series Gekkō’s Miscellaney
c. 1886–1899
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
More Sumo Prints
Frequently Asked Questions
Sumo match was created by Ogata Gekko (尾形月耕).
Sumo match depicts sumo.