Ox and Man
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Edition:
- Self-printed
- Source:
- Japanese Art Open Database
Description
The ox and man subject—a figure with a large draft animal—belongs to the pastoral tradition in East Asian painting, where the ox-herder allegory carried Zen philosophical meaning: the search for the ox as the search for one's own Buddha nature. Saito's treatment likely preserves the formal relationship between human and animal without the full allegorical apparatus, the contrast between the man's upright form and the ox's massive horizontal body creating the compositional tension that interested him.
More Prints by Saito Kiyoshi
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
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ox and Man was created by Saito Kiyoshi (斎藤清).
Ox and Man depicts animals.