Estampes Japonaises - Japanese Prints

A Bruxelles ce week-end pour la BOA Fair, la BAAF et la BRUNEAF.

Acheté deux petites estampes de Yoshiiku 芳幾 (connu comme Chogaro Yoshiiku, Utagawa Yoshiiku (or Yoshihiku), artist, Japanese. (1833-1904); familiy name: Ochiai 落合;
school: Utagawa 歌川;
other names: Ikkeisai 一恵斎, Ikkunsai 一薫斎, Chōkarō 朝霞楼, Sharakusai 洒落斎

Examples of his work here: http://search.famsf.org:8080/search.shtml?keywords=yoshiiku

'Many of Japan's greatest woodcut artists of the latter half of the nineteenth century studied in the workshop of the master artist and designer, Kuniyoshi (1798-1861). The most notable were Yoshitoshi, Yoshiiku, Yoshitora, Yoshikazu and Yoshifuji. The 'Yoshi' prefix, in fact, was somewhat like a title which indicated that these artists belonged to Kuniyoshi's famous school. By the mid 1870's Yoshitoshi had risen to be the most famous artist of his era. Yet, for the decade following the death of Kuniyoshi (in 1861), the heir apparent to carry on his masterful warrior and actor woodcuts was Yoshiiku.
More than any of Kuniyoshi's pupils, Yoshiiku continued the striking design elements of his master. These included powerful portrayals of motion and gesture combined with brilliant colour modulations. Yoshiiku's affinity to his master during this decade is reinforced by the fact that he was commissioned to create the important memorial woodcut portrait of Kuniyoshi shortly after his death. As well many of Yoshiiku's woodcuts during the 1860's decade are signed with Kuniyoshi's red Kiri seal. As successor of his teacher Kuniyoshi, after his teacher’s death, he achieved a prominent position among the artists who drew caricatures and humorous pictures about the current events of that time, such as Boshin sensō’e and bunmei kaika-e. From 1874 onwards he illustrated reports from the newspaper Tōkyō nichinichi shinbun in the form of nishiki’e (shinbun nishiki’e). The following year he published his own newspaper Tōkyō eiri shinbun, and 1879 the kabuki-newspaper Kabuki shinpō. His disciples were Ikumaru, Ikuei and Ikumasa.

First print entitled: Shizuka Gozen

(1168? - 1189) She was a shirabyoshi, a people who performed dances for gods. One day she fell in love with a samurai, Yoshitsune Minamoto. Japan's ruler in that era was Kiyomori Taira. Yoshitsune's older brother Yoritomo Minamoto collected soldiers and planned to fight against the Taira family to get the position of a ruler. He appointed Yoshitsune as a general and ordered him to destroy the Taira family. Yoshitsune did well and the Taira family all died in the battles in 1185.

After the victory of these battles, Yoritomo began to be afraid of the probability that Yoshitsune was a man of so much ability that he might be going to a great threat to him. He ordered his soldiers to kill Yoshitsune. Yoshitsune left Kyoto for the Tohoku region where was out of the government's control. Shizuka followed him. Yoshitsune knew that he might be killed some day, he told Shizuka to be parted. She answered yes, because she knew that he still loved her so much that he wanted her to stay in a safer place. She was pregnant.

She was caught by the Yoritomo's forces and taken in front of him. Yoritomo told her to show him a dance. She performed a dance with a lyric that gave praise to her lover Yoshitsune. He got angry and ordered to kill her. People around her told him to stop it. She was paroled, but her baby was killed and thrown into sea instead.
She followed Yoshitsune again. But the news she heard was his death. He died on the battlefield when he fought with Yoritomo in 1189.
She had her hair cut and became a nun in despair. Tree months later she died, calling her lover's name.

Second print signed Ochiai Yoshiiku, titled: Young Minamoto no Yoritomo and the Mongaku Priest in Izu:

Minamoto no Yoritomo　源頼朝（1149-99） defeated the clan of the Heike (Taira). As the leader of the first warrior family with political power he established the Kamakura bakufu. He is the first shogun from the warrior class.

http://kenkyuu.jpn.univie.ac.at/karikaturen/en/db_use.htm