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Gain access to this incredible resource through either a monthly or a yearly subscription and search the entire collection from your desktop, compare multiple images side by side and zoom into the minute details of the images. Visit www.davidrumsey.com/amica for more information on the collection, click on the link below the revolving thumbnail to the right, or email us at amica@luna-img.com . Creator Name: Katsukawa, Shunsho Creator Nationality: Asian; Far East Asian; Japanese Creator Role: Artist Creator Dates/Places: Japanese; 1726-1792 Asia,East Asia,Japan Creator Active Place: Asia,East Asia,Japan Creator Name-CRT: Katsukawa Shunsho Title: Sumo wrestlers of the Eastern Group: (right) Nijigadake Somaemon of sekiwake rank from Awa Province, and (left) Fudenoumi Kin'emon of maegashira rank from Kokura Title Type: preferred View: Full View Creation Start Date: 1782 Creation End Date: 1783 Creation Date: c. 1782/83 Creation Place: Asia,East Asia,Japan Object Type: Prints Classification Term: Woodblock Materials and Techniques: Woodblock print. Dimensions: Oban; 38.2 x 26.0 cm Inscriptions: SIGNATURE: Shunsho ga AMICA Contributor: The Art Institute of Chicago Owner Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA ID Number: 1949.44 Credit Line: The Art Institute of Chicago, Frederick W. Gookin Collection Rights: http://www.artic.edu/aic/rights/main.rights.html Context: As Asano Shugo has recently written, Shunsho was probably the originator of sumo prints as a distinctive category of ukiyoe. Until his time individual wrestlers had been regarded as curiosities, worthy of occasional depiction in color prints; it was Shunsho who, from about 1782, made the illustration of sumo champions into a genre in its own right, with its own stylistic conventions. As in his actor portraits, Shunsho was closely attentive to the wrestlers' facial features, though of course an air of comeliness was neither necessary nor even desirable. And yet, though their bloated bodies and heavy features could be shown without flattery, Shunsho's wrestlers are always drawn sympathetically, imbued with a sense of dignity and self-respect few later artists could match. He simultaneously established and perfected the genre.Sumo tournaments were generally held for 'ten fine days' (seiten toka) in temporary arenas set up in the large open spaces around temples and shrines, which received part of the proceeds of the matches. Hence tournaments were normally described as 'Subscription Sumo' (kanjin sumo). From the 1780s the regular location came to be the Eko-in, a temple at Honjo, across the Sumida River from the main part of Edo. Shunsho designed a large horizontal 'perspective' print (uki-e) of wrestlers crossing a bridge over the Sumida River on their way to a tournament, accompanied by an enthusiastic crowd, and another showing a match in progress (see 'The Actor's Image' catalogue, fig. 99.1, p.278).Theburgeoning interest among ukiyo-e artists in designing wrestler prints occurred at least in part because Edo had, by the late eighteenth century, supplanted Osaka as the main center of the sport. Shunsho's immediate incentive to design a group of sumo prints in 1782-1783, however, seems to have been the unexpected defeat of Tanikaze by Onogawa from Osaka, after an unbroken run of sixty-three victories, in the second month of 1782. This upset roused public interest in sumo to fever pitch.In the present print the two wrestlers stand naked save for boldly patterned aprons, waiting for one to be called into the ring. As always, Shunsho appears to relish the contrasting features of the two men. Nijigadake from Awa Province in Shikoku, on the right, is clearlythe elder of the two and of higher rank (sekiwake is the second of the top three ranks). His drooping eyes and broad (maybe broken) nose suggest melancholy, accentuated by the way in which the head seems sunk in the massive shoulders. He holds his hands open, as if anxious to get on with the fight. Fudenoumi, on the left, from Kokura in Kyushu and of maegashira (fourth) rank, has smooth, round, untroubled features. Nijigadake only held the sekiwake rank between the second month of 1782 and the eleventh month of 1783, so the print must have been issued between these dates.The strange mottled patina covering the men's flesh and the background was caused by oxidation of a lead pigment- probably lead white- which was mixed with red for flesh tones and blue(?) for the background. It was not present when the print was new. AMICA ID: AIC_.1949.44 AMICA Library Year: 1998 Media Metadata Rights: Copyright The Art Institute of Chicago, 1998 AMICA PUBLIC RIGHTS: a) Access to the materials is granted for personal and non-commercial use. b) A full educational license for non-commercial use is available from Cartography Associates at www.davidrumsey.com/amica/institution_subscribe.html c) Licensed users may continue their examination of additional materials provided by Cartography Associates, and d) commercial rights are available from the rights holder. Home
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