Full Description
The Japanese artist Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831-1889) was celebrated for his exciting impromptu performances at calligraphy and painting parties. Dynamic, playful and provocative, Kyōsai delighted his audience with spontaneous and speedy paintings of demons, skeletons, deities and Buddhist saints. These were often satirical, reflecting a time of political and cultural change in Japan. Among his most charming and inventive works are his brilliant depictions of animals, which humorously play the roles of protagonists of modern life. Kyōsai's important place in Japanese art is here explored in depth by Sadamura Koto, a leading authority on the artist, in this catalogue of the exceptionally rich holdings of the Israel Goldman Collection.
Contents
President's Foreword by Rebecca Salter pra 7
Foreword by Israel Goldman 8
Preface by Timothy T. Clark fBa 11
Notes to the Reader 14
Painter at a Boisterous Party:
Kyōsai's Creative Environment in Late Nineteenth-century Japan 17
Catalogue plates and entries
1 From Tradition to Innovation 39
2 Laughing at Modernity 85
3 The Artist Meets His Public 119
Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831-1889): A Chronology 178
Endnotes 182
Bibliography and References 183
Inscriptions and Lists of Artists 186
Index 188
