Ukiyo-e Prints

浮世絵版画

UTAGAWA TOYOKUNI III

三代目歌川豊国

さんだい(目).うたがわ.とよくに

1786-1865

ACTORS:

(Right panel - below) Nakamura Shikan IV

中村芝翫

なかむらしガン

SUBJECT:

PUBLISHER: Izutsu-ya Sanemon

井筒屋三右衛門

いづつや.さんえもん

DATE: 1861, 6th Month

CARVER: Hori Chō

彫長

ほりちょう

SIZES:

EACH PANEL: 14 1/4" x 9 5/8"

SIGNATURE: Toyokuni ga

 署名: 豊国画

$760.00

NAKAMURA SHIKAN IV

Above is a detail of the robe of the figure on the right. As you can see from our photograph taken at an sharp angle the black area is elaborately burnished. We have noted this on any number of other pages. Things are not always as they appear at first glance. This may well be true of prints which you own. Take another look. A careful look and you'll see what I mean.

Years ago when I gave tours to fourth graders at a major Midwestern museum I decided to give them a rest and told them to sit down on the floor. We were in the room with the 14th and 15th century Italian paintings. Religious works. Many of them tooled and gilded. Although it was considered bad form by the other docents I sat down cross-legged with the children. That was the first time that I realized that the children were seeing the pictures in ways I had never noticed. The gilding was far more pronounced from that angle. This was something standing adults would never see unless of course they were in a wheelchair and even then it would never occur to them that they were seeing these works any differently than their companions. By extension one could then imagine freshly created panels rife with saints and virgins lit only by flickering candles. A gleam here, a sparkle there. All of this hinting at glory that was to come if the devotee remained pure and true.

PUBLISHER'S SEAL:

Izutsu-ya Sanemon

ARTIST'S SIGNATURE:

Toyokuni ga

DATE SEAL:

1861, 6th Month

CARVER'S SEAL:

Hori Chō

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