Detail View: The AMICA Library: 'Akutagawa.' Episode 6 of Ise Monogatori; no. 4 (ni) in Shunsho's series of illustrations
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AMICA ID:
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AIC_.1928.984.4
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AMICA Library Year:
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1998
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Object Type:
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Prints
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Creator Name:
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Katsukawa, Shunsho
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Creator Nationality:
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Asian; Far East Asian; Japanese
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Creator Dates/Places:
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Japanese; 1726-1792 Asia,East Asia,Japan
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Creator Name-CRT:
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Katsukawa Shunsho
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Title:
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'Akutagawa.' Episode 6 of Ise Monogatori; no. 4 (ni) in Shunsho's series of illustrations
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Title Type:
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preferred
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View:
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full view
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Creation Date:
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c. 1772/73
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Creation Start Date:
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1772
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Creation End Date:
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1773
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Materials and Techniques:
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Woodblock print.
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Classification Term:
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Woodblock
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Creation Place:
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Asia,East Asia,Japan
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Dimensions:
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Koban; 23.0 x 15.6 cm
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AMICA Contributor:
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The Art Institute of Chicago
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Owner Location:
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Chicago, Illinois, USA
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ID Number:
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1928.984.4
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Credit Line:
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The Art Institute of Chicago, The Clarence Buckingham Collection
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Inscriptions:
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SIGNATURE: Katsukawa Shunsho ga
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Rights:
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Context:
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'A certain man' runs off with a court lady one dark night. As they pass the stream called Akutagawa, she sees dewdrops on the grass and asks him what they are. The hour grows late and rain begins to fall in torrents, so the man shelters his lady-love in a ruined storehouse while he stands guard at its entrance. But the storehouse is inhabited by demons, who devour the lady while thunder drowns her screams. In the morning when he finds her gone and surmises her gruesome fate, the distraught lover composesthis poem:Shiratama ka (When my beloved asked)nani zo to hito no ('Is it a clear gem,)toishi toki(Or what might it be?')tsuyu to kotaete (Would that I had replied,)kienamashi mono o ('A dewdrop!' and perished.)Shunsho dresses the eloping couple in ancient court costume - the woman in the many-layered brocade robes and the man in black lacquered hat (eboshi) and hunting cloak (kariginu) - with no obvious anachronisms of eighteenth-century dress. The lover carries his lady on his back as they flee, andboth look earnestly at the drops of dew drawn prominently on each curved blade of grass. The graceful green willow withes overhead add to the lyricism of the scene. In this sense Shunsho's Ise Monogatari illustrations appear generally faithful to the spirit and world of the original Heian-period novel; they do not belong to the category of parodies (mitate-e) of ancient themes that were so common in eighteenth-century ukiyo-e.Asano Shugo has shown that Shunso took the composition of this print from the Ise Monogatari published in 1748 with black-and-white woodblock-printed illustrations by Nishikawa Sukenobu (1671-1750).
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Related Image Identifier Link:
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AIC_.E19689.TIF
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