Contents
First published on the occasion of ‘Kyōsai: The Israel Goldman Collection’ Royal Academy of Arts, London 19 March – 19 June 2022 Official supporter of the exhibition
Supported by
with additional support from Kathryn Uhde
This exhibition has been made possible by the provision of insurance through the Government Indemnity Scheme. The Royal Academy of Arts would like to thank HM Government for providing Government Indemnity and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Arts Council England for arranging the indemnity. exhiBition curators Sadamura Koto Israel Goldman Adrian Locke exhiBition organisation Stephanie Bush Elana Woodgate Belén Lasheras Díaz Rebecca Bailey photographic and copyright co -ordination Susana Vázquez Fernández exhiBition catalogue Royal Academy Publications Florence Dassonville, Production and Distribution Co-ordinator Carola Krueger, Production and Distribution Manager Peter Sawbridge, Head of Publishing and Editorial Director Copy-editing and proofreading: Tom Neville Design: Tim Harvey Colour origination and print: Gomer Press, Wales
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author’s acknowledgements The author would like to express special thanks to Izzy Goldman, Tim Clark, Rosina Buckland, Robert Campbell, Deguchi Tomoyuki, Satō Atsushi, Yamamoto Yoshitaka, Takahashi Toshirō, Sugiyama Keisuke, Kusunoki Kyōko, Yamauchi Ai, José Joaquín Atria Lemaitre, Peter Sawbridge and Tom Neville for their valuable help in writing and editing this catalogue. I would also like to thank the lenders of the images used as figures. Copyright © 2022 Royal Academy of Arts, London Any copy of this book issued by the publisher is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including these words being imposed on a subsequent purchaser. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library isBn 978-1-912520-74-9 Distributed outside the United States and Canada by ACC Art Books Ltd, Sandy Lane, Old Martlesham, Woodbridge, Suffolk ip12 4sd Distributed in the United States and Canada by ARTBOOK | D.A.P., 75 Broad Street, Suite 630, New York, NY 10004
editorial note • All works illustrated are by Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831–1889) unless otherwise stated. • Dimensions of all works of art are given in centimetres, height before width. illustrations (all details) Endpapers: cat. 35 Page 15: cat. 6 Page 2: cat. 15 Page 16: cat. 5 Page 6: cat. 47 Pages 36–7: cat. 50 Page 9: cat. 27 Page 38: cat. 9 Page 10: cat. 18 Page 84: cat. 32 Pages 12–13: cat. 40 Page 118: cat. 80
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Painter at a Boisterous Party: Kyōsai’s Creative Environment in Late Nineteenth-century Japan
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Catalogue plates and entries
photographic acknowledgements All works are reproduced by kind permission of the owners. Every attempt has been made to trace the photographers and copyright holders. Specific acknowledgements are as follows: Bietigheim-Bissingen, Stadtmuseum Hornmoldhaus. Photo: Tilman Lothspeich: figs 18, 24. Koga, Koga City Museum of History: fig. 17. Kyoto, Kyoto National Museum: fig. 32. London, Israel Goldman Collection Photography: Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University: cats 2, 5, 7, 10, 11, 13, 21–3, 25, 30–4, 36–41, 44, 48, 49, 51, 52, 54, 56, 59, 65, 69, 71–4, 76, 78, 81–5; figs 1, 3, 9. Ken Adlard: cats 1, 4, 6, 9, 12, 14–16, 18–20, 26, 27, 35, 42, 43, 46, 47, 50, 57, 58, 60–4, 66–8, 70, 72 (detail on pp. 152–3), 75, 77, 80; figs 5, 20, 26. Sugiyama Keisuke: cats 3, 17, 24, 45, 53. London, Photo © The Courtauld Gallery (Samuel Courtauld Trust) / Bridgeman Images: fig. 16. London, Photo © The Trustees of the British Museum: fig. 14. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art: figs 15, 31. New York, Steven Tucker: fig. 19. Paris, Photo © Bibliothèque nationale de France: fig. 28. Seattle, The Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection: fig. 13. Tokyo, Archives and Mausolea Department, The Imperial Household Agency: fig. 25. Tokyo, Department of Architecture, School of Engineering, University of Tokyo: fig. 2. Tokyo, Eitaro Sōhonpo Co. Ltd: fig. 8. Tokyo, Mitsui Memorial Museum: fig. 7. Tokyo, National Diet Library Digital Collection: figs 6, 10. Tokyo National Museum ColBase (https://colbase. nich.go.jp/): fig. 11. Warabi, Kawanabe Kyōsai Memorial Museum: figs 21, 23, 29, 30, 33. Yokohama, The Yu Kawazoe Collection: figs 22, 27.
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President’s Foreword by Rebecca Salter pra Foreword by Israel Goldman Preface by Timothy T. Clark fBa Notes to the Reader
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1 From Tradition to Innovation 2 Laughing at Modernity 3 The Artist Meets His Public
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Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831–1889): A Chronology
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Endnotes Bibliography and References Inscriptions and Lists of Artists Index
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Contents
First published on the occasion of ‘Kyōsai: The Israel Goldman Collection’ Royal Academy of Arts, London 19 March – 19 June 2022 Official supporter of the exhibition
Supported by
with additional support from Kathryn Uhde
This exhibition has been made possible by the provision of insurance through the Government Indemnity Scheme. The Royal Academy of Arts would like to thank HM Government for providing Government Indemnity and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Arts Council England for arranging the indemnity. exhiBition curators Sadamura Koto Israel Goldman Adrian Locke exhiBition organisation Stephanie Bush Elana Woodgate Belén Lasheras Díaz Rebecca Bailey photographic and copyright co -ordination Susana Vázquez Fernández exhiBition catalogue Royal Academy Publications Florence Dassonville, Production and Distribution Co-ordinator Carola Krueger, Production and Distribution Manager Peter Sawbridge, Head of Publishing and Editorial Director Copy-editing and proofreading: Tom Neville Design: Tim Harvey Colour origination and print: Gomer Press, Wales
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author’s acknowledgements The author would like to express special thanks to Izzy Goldman, Tim Clark, Rosina Buckland, Robert Campbell, Deguchi Tomoyuki, Satō Atsushi, Yamamoto Yoshitaka, Takahashi Toshirō, Sugiyama Keisuke, Kusunoki Kyōko, Yamauchi Ai, José Joaquín Atria Lemaitre, Peter Sawbridge and Tom Neville for their valuable help in writing and editing this catalogue. I would also like to thank the lenders of the images used as figures. Copyright © 2022 Royal Academy of Arts, London Any copy of this book issued by the publisher is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including these words being imposed on a subsequent purchaser. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library isBn 978-1-912520-74-9 Distributed outside the United States and Canada by ACC Art Books Ltd, Sandy Lane, Old Martlesham, Woodbridge, Suffolk ip12 4sd Distributed in the United States and Canada by ARTBOOK | D.A.P., 75 Broad Street, Suite 630, New York, NY 10004
editorial note • All works illustrated are by Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831–1889) unless otherwise stated. • Dimensions of all works of art are given in centimetres, height before width. illustrations (all details) Endpapers: cat. 35 Page 15: cat. 6 Page 2: cat. 15 Page 16: cat. 5 Page 6: cat. 47 Pages 36–7: cat. 50 Page 9: cat. 27 Page 38: cat. 9 Page 10: cat. 18 Page 84: cat. 32 Pages 12–13: cat. 40 Page 118: cat. 80
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Painter at a Boisterous Party: Kyōsai’s Creative Environment in Late Nineteenth-century Japan
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Catalogue plates and entries
photographic acknowledgements All works are reproduced by kind permission of the owners. Every attempt has been made to trace the photographers and copyright holders. Specific acknowledgements are as follows: Bietigheim-Bissingen, Stadtmuseum Hornmoldhaus. Photo: Tilman Lothspeich: figs 18, 24. Koga, Koga City Museum of History: fig. 17. Kyoto, Kyoto National Museum: fig. 32. London, Israel Goldman Collection Photography: Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University: cats 2, 5, 7, 10, 11, 13, 21–3, 25, 30–4, 36–41, 44, 48, 49, 51, 52, 54, 56, 59, 65, 69, 71–4, 76, 78, 81–5; figs 1, 3, 9. Ken Adlard: cats 1, 4, 6, 9, 12, 14–16, 18–20, 26, 27, 35, 42, 43, 46, 47, 50, 57, 58, 60–4, 66–8, 70, 72 (detail on pp. 152–3), 75, 77, 80; figs 5, 20, 26. Sugiyama Keisuke: cats 3, 17, 24, 45, 53. London, Photo © The Courtauld Gallery (Samuel Courtauld Trust) / Bridgeman Images: fig. 16. London, Photo © The Trustees of the British Museum: fig. 14. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art: figs 15, 31. New York, Steven Tucker: fig. 19. Paris, Photo © Bibliothèque nationale de France: fig. 28. Seattle, The Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection: fig. 13. Tokyo, Archives and Mausolea Department, The Imperial Household Agency: fig. 25. Tokyo, Department of Architecture, School of Engineering, University of Tokyo: fig. 2. Tokyo, Eitaro Sōhonpo Co. Ltd: fig. 8. Tokyo, Mitsui Memorial Museum: fig. 7. Tokyo, National Diet Library Digital Collection: figs 6, 10. Tokyo National Museum ColBase (https://colbase. nich.go.jp/): fig. 11. Warabi, Kawanabe Kyōsai Memorial Museum: figs 21, 23, 29, 30, 33. Yokohama, The Yu Kawazoe Collection: figs 22, 27.
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President’s Foreword by Rebecca Salter pra Foreword by Israel Goldman Preface by Timothy T. Clark fBa Notes to the Reader
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1 From Tradition to Innovation 2 Laughing at Modernity 3 The Artist Meets His Public
119
Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831–1889): A Chronology
178
Endnotes Bibliography and References Inscriptions and Lists of Artists Index
182 183 186 188
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President’s Foreword
‘Kyōsai: The Israel Goldman Collection’ is the first opportunity in the UK for nearly thirty years to experience the work of the hitherto lesser-known but much-admired Japanese artist Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831–1889). Long overlooked by Japanese art history, his work is rapidly being rehabilitated, and admiration for his exceptional skills as a painter, draughtsman and printmaker is increasing. Something of a rebel, Kyōsai refused to be typecast and moved constantly between disciplines, from refined studio painting to popular woodblock prints, circumventing the strict hierarchical conventions that ruled artists and their work in Japan at the time. His unconventionality, eclecticism and eccentric disposition were to have a negative impact on his legacy for decades. Drawn to his wit, endearing subject-matter, inventiveness, irreverence and audacity, the renowned London-based dealer in Japanese art Israel Goldman has been collecting Kyōsai’s work in all media for the last forty years. His collection of nearly a thousand works is now one of the largest and most important in the world. Working closely with his curator Dr Sadamura Koto and with his great friend Timothy T. Clark fBa, formerly Head of the Japanese Section at the British Museum and now an Honorary Research Fellow there, Mr Goldman has selected some one hundred highlights from his collection for the exhibition. ‘Kyōsai: The Israel Goldman Collection’ reveals an artist with a dazzling range of skills coupled with a vivid imagination that continues to inspire Manga and tattoo artists to this day. Dr Sadamura was recently awarded a doctorate by the University of Tokyo with a thesis entitled ‘Kawanabe Kyōsai and Kyōga: Exploring a New Era through Comic Pictures’. She has worked directly with Mr Goldman and Mr Clark for many
years as a Visiting Researcher at the British Museum and is currently Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Fellow at the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures in Norwich. We extend our profound gratitude to Mr Goldman, Dr Sadamura and Mr Clark, and, at the British Museum, to Jane Portal, Keeper of the Department of Asia; to Dr Rosina Buckland, Curator of the Japanese Collections; to their colleagues in the Department of Asia; to Jill Maggs, Head of Exhibitions; and to Helen Merrett, Registrar, and her colleagues for their invaluable support of this project. To realise the exhibition at the Royal Academy, Mr Goldman and Dr Sadamura have worked closely with Dr Adrian Locke and Rebecca Bray and alongside Elana Woodgate, Belén Lasheras Díaz, Rebecca Bailey, Stephanie Bush and Susana Vázquez Fernández. Takeshi Hayatsu Architects, who were responsible for the installation, and Tim Harvey, who designed this handsome exhibition catalogue with the Academy’s dedicated publishing team, likewise merit our thanks. The Royal Academy is extremely grateful to the Embassy of Japan as official supporter of the exhibition, and would like to thank Kajima, Kathryn Uhde, the Japan Foundation, the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation and the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation for their financial support of ‘Kyōsai: The Israel Goldman Collection’. Rebecca Salter pra President, Royal Academy of Arts
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President’s Foreword
‘Kyōsai: The Israel Goldman Collection’ is the first opportunity in the UK for nearly thirty years to experience the work of the hitherto lesser-known but much-admired Japanese artist Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831–1889). Long overlooked by Japanese art history, his work is rapidly being rehabilitated, and admiration for his exceptional skills as a painter, draughtsman and printmaker is increasing. Something of a rebel, Kyōsai refused to be typecast and moved constantly between disciplines, from refined studio painting to popular woodblock prints, circumventing the strict hierarchical conventions that ruled artists and their work in Japan at the time. His unconventionality, eclecticism and eccentric disposition were to have a negative impact on his legacy for decades. Drawn to his wit, endearing subject-matter, inventiveness, irreverence and audacity, the renowned London-based dealer in Japanese art Israel Goldman has been collecting Kyōsai’s work in all media for the last forty years. His collection of nearly a thousand works is now one of the largest and most important in the world. Working closely with his curator Dr Sadamura Koto and with his great friend Timothy T. Clark fBa, formerly Head of the Japanese Section at the British Museum and now an Honorary Research Fellow there, Mr Goldman has selected some one hundred highlights from his collection for the exhibition. ‘Kyōsai: The Israel Goldman Collection’ reveals an artist with a dazzling range of skills coupled with a vivid imagination that continues to inspire Manga and tattoo artists to this day. Dr Sadamura was recently awarded a doctorate by the University of Tokyo with a thesis entitled ‘Kawanabe Kyōsai and Kyōga: Exploring a New Era through Comic Pictures’. She has worked directly with Mr Goldman and Mr Clark for many
years as a Visiting Researcher at the British Museum and is currently Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Fellow at the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures in Norwich. We extend our profound gratitude to Mr Goldman, Dr Sadamura and Mr Clark, and, at the British Museum, to Jane Portal, Keeper of the Department of Asia; to Dr Rosina Buckland, Curator of the Japanese Collections; to their colleagues in the Department of Asia; to Jill Maggs, Head of Exhibitions; and to Helen Merrett, Registrar, and her colleagues for their invaluable support of this project. To realise the exhibition at the Royal Academy, Mr Goldman and Dr Sadamura have worked closely with Dr Adrian Locke and Rebecca Bray and alongside Elana Woodgate, Belén Lasheras Díaz, Rebecca Bailey, Stephanie Bush and Susana Vázquez Fernández. Takeshi Hayatsu Architects, who were responsible for the installation, and Tim Harvey, who designed this handsome exhibition catalogue with the Academy’s dedicated publishing team, likewise merit our thanks. The Royal Academy is extremely grateful to the Embassy of Japan as official supporter of the exhibition, and would like to thank Kajima, Kathryn Uhde, the Japan Foundation, the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation and the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation for their financial support of ‘Kyōsai: The Israel Goldman Collection’. Rebecca Salter pra President, Royal Academy of Arts
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Painter at a Boisterous Party: Kyōsai’s Creative Environment in Late Nineteenth-century Japan
Fig. 1 ‘Kyōsai paints a skeleton for Yoshibei to show the suffering of his illness’, in Kyōsai’s Account of Painting (Kyōsai gadan), vol. 1 of part 2, 1887. Colour woodblock-printed book, 25.2 × 17.6 cm (covers). Israel Goldman Collection, London
The tobacco merchant Ozawa Yoshibei had been ill for a long time. Every possible treatment had been tried, to no effect. Visiting a hot spring for a cure, Yoshibei was delighted to hear that the painter Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831–1889) was also there. He sent a friend to ask Kyōsai to paint his portrait and to explain his condition. Kyōsai agreed and came to Yoshibei’s room. While Yoshibei and others watched, Kyōsai spread a sheet of paper on the floor and, with a brush and ink, quickly painted a skeleton. He pointed to the image and exclaimed, ‘You’ll soon look like this.’ The onlookers were shocked, but Yoshibei was inspired, truly understanding the transience of life and able to loosen his attachment to this world. Free from distress, he lived half a year longer than his doctor had predicted (fig. 1).¹ This anecdote is told in the second part of Kyōsai’s Account of Painting (Kyōsai gadan, 1887), a semi-autobiographical record illustrated by Kyōsai himself (transcribed by Uryū Masayasu, 1821–1893). Impromptu paintings done in front of an audience like this are called sekiga, literally ‘painting [made] on the spot/at an event’ and in nineteenth-century Japan there were many occasions when people gathered to see these performances. Sekiga are generally less formal and more fluid in style than honga (literally ‘main/ proper painting’), which are based on preparatory drawings and often have a fine, detailed finish. Honga are normally produced in the studio, sometimes with help from pupils, and can take weeks to complete, whereas sekiga can be painted in a matter of minutes, spontaneously and unassisted by the artist’s studio. Accounts from the late twelfth century suggest that the art of sekiga had been practised at least since medieval times in Japan.² The performances often had elements
of surprise, wit and playfulness, just like Kyōsai’s skeleton painting for Yoshibei. With extemporaneous sekiga, not only was the finished work admired, but the entire process of creation was enjoyed as a performance. This essay summarises Kyōsai’s biography and explores the lively creative cultural environment of late nineteenth-century Edo (renamed Tokyo from 1868), where Kyōsai thrived, one of the most popular and celebrated artists of his day.
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19 Dragon and Tiger late 1860s–1870 Signature: Ōju Seisei Kyōsai* (‘Upon request by Seisei Kyōsai*’), seal: Shuchū gaki (‘Intoxicated demon of painting’) Hanging scrolls: ink, light colour and gold on silk, each 115.5 × 41 cm reference: AC The dragon and the tiger have long been important in East Asian culture as two of the four deities of the cardinal directions, symbolising respectively east and west. The late ninth-century manual of Chinese Daoism, Yi jing (Book of Changes), says, ‘… when the dragon rises, the clouds collect; when the tiger screams, the winds follow’. In Japan, the pairing of a dragon and a tiger had been a subject favoured by warrior patrons as a symbol of their power since the fifteenth century. Serving the samurai class, Kano-school artists produced numerous ink paintings on the theme but few examples by Kyōsai are known. This diptych is from early in Kyōsai’s career. The dragon and the tiger confront each other: the tiger looks up to the sky, showered by the rain generated by the dragon. The wind, which is making the clouds swirl around the dragon, must, in turn, be of the tiger’s making. Kyōsai’s dragon and tiger are more humorous than fearsome – if compared, for example, with the famous diptych by Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), whom Kyōsai greatly admired. Hokusai’s diptych (tiger: Ōta Memorial Museum of Art, Tokyo; dragon: Musée national des arts asiatiques–Guimet, Paris) was painted in 1849, his final, ninetieth year. The compositions of the Hokusai and Kyōsai versions are similar, however, here the tiger is turning around in the rain to face the dragon in a dark cloudy sky. Both artists splashed dark black ink around the dragon to express the vibrating energy of its mighty presence.
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19 Dragon and Tiger late 1860s–1870 Signature: Ōju Seisei Kyōsai* (‘Upon request by Seisei Kyōsai*’), seal: Shuchū gaki (‘Intoxicated demon of painting’) Hanging scrolls: ink, light colour and gold on silk, each 115.5 × 41 cm reference: AC The dragon and the tiger have long been important in East Asian culture as two of the four deities of the cardinal directions, symbolising respectively east and west. The late ninth-century manual of Chinese Daoism, Yi jing (Book of Changes), says, ‘… when the dragon rises, the clouds collect; when the tiger screams, the winds follow’. In Japan, the pairing of a dragon and a tiger had been a subject favoured by warrior patrons as a symbol of their power since the fifteenth century. Serving the samurai class, Kano-school artists produced numerous ink paintings on the theme but few examples by Kyōsai are known. This diptych is from early in Kyōsai’s career. The dragon and the tiger confront each other: the tiger looks up to the sky, showered by the rain generated by the dragon. The wind, which is making the clouds swirl around the dragon, must, in turn, be of the tiger’s making. Kyōsai’s dragon and tiger are more humorous than fearsome – if compared, for example, with the famous diptych by Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), whom Kyōsai greatly admired. Hokusai’s diptych (tiger: Ōta Memorial Museum of Art, Tokyo; dragon: Musée national des arts asiatiques–Guimet, Paris) was painted in 1849, his final, ninetieth year. The compositions of the Hokusai and Kyōsai versions are similar, however, here the tiger is turning around in the rain to face the dragon in a dark cloudy sky. Both artists splashed dark black ink around the dragon to express the vibrating energy of its mighty presence.
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34 ‘Fashionable Picture of the Great Frog Battle’ (Fūryū kawazu dai-gassen no zu) third and seventh months, 1864 Signatures: Ōju Kyōjin (‘Upon request by mad man’), Ōju Kyōja (‘Upon request by mad man’) Colour woodblock-print triptych, 35.7 × 25.2 cm (right), 35.7 × 25.5 cm (middle), 35.7 × 25 cm (left) reference: JM 13 exhiBited: Ōta 27, Kyōsai! 90, BM Manga pp. 292–3 Two frog armies are engaged in a fierce battle. We see water cannon with lotus-leaf wheels, leaf boats and many bulrush spears (the plant is called gama-no-ho in Japanese, and gama also means toad). On the curtains that surround each encampment are crests suggesting the identities of the opposing armies. At the bottom right, the lotus-leaf curtain and the cannon wheels bear an emblem of six hollyhocks, a symbol occasionally used in satirical prints to represent the Aizu domain, a close ally of the Tokugawa shogunate. The other curtain at the top left bears threeleafed arrowhead plants (omodaka), the crest of the Mōri clan who ruled the Chōshū domain. In the 1860s, in the lead up to the end of the shogun regime and the Meiji Restoration of 1868, a series of battles and other military conflicts took place all over Japan. Although the Tokugawa government strictly forbade the publication of images of political events, numerous satirical prints were published without legal permission. Artists used animal caricatures or pictures of playing children as proxies for the protagonists, inserting codes and signs to enable viewers to decipher the meaning behind the image. When signing the print, both Kyōsai and the publisher used pseudonyms to avoid problems. The image appears to refer to the battle at the Hamaguri Gate of the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, in the seventh month of 1864, in which the Aizu domain used cannon to quell the rebellion led by the Chōshū domain.
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34 ‘Fashionable Picture of the Great Frog Battle’ (Fūryū kawazu dai-gassen no zu) third and seventh months, 1864 Signatures: Ōju Kyōjin (‘Upon request by mad man’), Ōju Kyōja (‘Upon request by mad man’) Colour woodblock-print triptych, 35.7 × 25.2 cm (right), 35.7 × 25.5 cm (middle), 35.7 × 25 cm (left) reference: JM 13 exhiBited: Ōta 27, Kyōsai! 90, BM Manga pp. 292–3 Two frog armies are engaged in a fierce battle. We see water cannon with lotus-leaf wheels, leaf boats and many bulrush spears (the plant is called gama-no-ho in Japanese, and gama also means toad). On the curtains that surround each encampment are crests suggesting the identities of the opposing armies. At the bottom right, the lotus-leaf curtain and the cannon wheels bear an emblem of six hollyhocks, a symbol occasionally used in satirical prints to represent the Aizu domain, a close ally of the Tokugawa shogunate. The other curtain at the top left bears threeleafed arrowhead plants (omodaka), the crest of the Mōri clan who ruled the Chōshū domain. In the 1860s, in the lead up to the end of the shogun regime and the Meiji Restoration of 1868, a series of battles and other military conflicts took place all over Japan. Although the Tokugawa government strictly forbade the publication of images of political events, numerous satirical prints were published without legal permission. Artists used animal caricatures or pictures of playing children as proxies for the protagonists, inserting codes and signs to enable viewers to decipher the meaning behind the image. When signing the print, both Kyōsai and the publisher used pseudonyms to avoid problems. The image appears to refer to the battle at the Hamaguri Gate of the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, in the seventh month of 1864, in which the Aizu domain used cannon to quell the rebellion led by the Chōshū domain.
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84 ‘Kyōsai Being Arrested at a Calligraphy and Painting Party at Mikawa-ya in Shinobazu-gaoka, Ueno’, in Kyōsai’s Account of Painting (Kyōsai gadan), vol. 2 of part 2 1887 Colour woodblock-printed book, 25.2 × 17.6 cm (covers) provenance: Hayashi Tadamasa, Henri Vever, Huguette Berès On the sixth day of the tenth month, 1870, the haiku poet Kikakudō Ujaku held a shogakai at the Mikawa-ya (or Chōdatei) restaurant in Ueno at which Kyōsai was invited to paint. Host and artist started drinking early and by the time guests arrived they were both completely inebriated. Although Kyōsai was so drunk that he could not even sit up properly, he kept painting more and more vigorously, to liven up the party. Then he overheard someone talking about a foreigner’s arrogant behaviour, which prompted him to create some pictures to make people laugh. Kyōsai was questioned by a government official present and immediately arrested, detained and interrogated for allegedly painting images insulting to high-ranking persons. Behind the pillar on the right-hand page, Kyōsai is held down and bound by policemen while attendees run around in a panic, some even falling into the pond from the veranda. This exaggerated, comedic rendition of the incident is followed by scenes of the artist’s imprisonment and interrogation. It is not known which were the offending paintings and Kyōsai claimed to have been too drunk to remember most of what he painted that day. The only pictures he could recall were of two people helping a long-legged person (Ashinaga) to put on his shoes, and another of a long-armed person (Tenaga) plucking the Great Buddha’s nostril hairs. Ashinaga and Tenaga probably represented foreigners behaving without restraint. (See also pp. 28–9.)
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84 ‘Kyōsai Being Arrested at a Calligraphy and Painting Party at Mikawa-ya in Shinobazu-gaoka, Ueno’, in Kyōsai’s Account of Painting (Kyōsai gadan), vol. 2 of part 2 1887 Colour woodblock-printed book, 25.2 × 17.6 cm (covers) provenance: Hayashi Tadamasa, Henri Vever, Huguette Berès On the sixth day of the tenth month, 1870, the haiku poet Kikakudō Ujaku held a shogakai at the Mikawa-ya (or Chōdatei) restaurant in Ueno at which Kyōsai was invited to paint. Host and artist started drinking early and by the time guests arrived they were both completely inebriated. Although Kyōsai was so drunk that he could not even sit up properly, he kept painting more and more vigorously, to liven up the party. Then he overheard someone talking about a foreigner’s arrogant behaviour, which prompted him to create some pictures to make people laugh. Kyōsai was questioned by a government official present and immediately arrested, detained and interrogated for allegedly painting images insulting to high-ranking persons. Behind the pillar on the right-hand page, Kyōsai is held down and bound by policemen while attendees run around in a panic, some even falling into the pond from the veranda. This exaggerated, comedic rendition of the incident is followed by scenes of the artist’s imprisonment and interrogation. It is not known which were the offending paintings and Kyōsai claimed to have been too drunk to remember most of what he painted that day. The only pictures he could recall were of two people helping a long-legged person (Ashinaga) to put on his shoes, and another of a long-armed person (Tenaga) plucking the Great Buddha’s nostril hairs. Ashinaga and Tenaga probably represented foreigners behaving without restraint. (See also pp. 28–9.)
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Rosalyn and Hugo Henderson Mrs Elizabeth Hosking Dame Vivian Hunt Mr Christopher Kneale Ms Maxine Kohn Ms Olena Lutsenko Mr Nicholas Maclean Scott and Laura Malkin Mr Stephen Marquardt Mr Michael Marx Lady Alison Myners Simon and Sabi North Mr and Mrs Simon Oliver Asta Paulauskaite Yana and Stephen Peel Paulo and Caroline Pereira Ms Melanie Rademacher Lady Rayne Lacey Tania Rotherwick Mr Richard Simmons CBE Tim and Lynda Smith Mr Kevin Sneader and Ms Amy Muntner Jane Spack Mrs Raksha Sriram Mr Michael Stiff Mr Robert Suss Rebecca Taylor Kathryn Uhde Countess Cornelia Von Rittberg Erica Wax Mr Neil Westreich Mrs Janet Winslow Mr Robert John Yerbury and those who wish to remain anonymous SILVER PATRONS Ms Ruth Anderson Mr John Attree Catherine Baxendale Mr and Mrs Jonathan and Sarah Bayliss Mrs J K M Bentley, Liveinart Sam and Rosie Berwick Ms Sara Bianchi Mr Bollinger Ms Miel de Botton Eleanor E Brass Mrs Marcia Brocklebank Mrs Charles Brown Simon Morris and Annalisa Burello Mr Jack Burgess Ms Debra Burt Mr and Mrs Richard C Martin Mrs Ann Chapman-Daniel Sir Trevor and Lady Chinn Damian and Anastasia Chunilal Mrs Jane Clark Rosalind Clayton Mr Richard Clothier Denise Cohen Charitable Trust Sir Ronald and Lady Cohen Andrew M Coppel, CBE and June V Coppel Cathy Corbett Edmund Coulthard Mrs Georgina David Mr Daniel Davies Mr and Mrs Jim Downing Mrs Maurice Dwek Mrs Marianna E Simpson Maryam Eisler Mrs Samira Govers-El Hachioui Mr and Mrs Jeff Eldredge Susan Elliott Mr David Fawkes S Isern-Feliu Mrs Stroma Finston The Garcia Family Foundation Mr Stephen Garrett The Hon Piers and Mrs Gibson Caroline and Alan Gillespie Mr Mark Glatman David Godwin Mrs Margaret Guitar Ms Kim Habraken Alex Haidas and Thalia Chryssikou Mr Christopher Harrison Mrs Sarah Harvey-Collicott Sir John and Lady Hegarty Sir Michael and Lady Heller Mrs Katrin Henkel Lady Heseltine Mrs Pat Heslop Mrs Susan Hitchin Mary Hobart Anne Holmes-Drewry Mr Philip Hudson Mr and Mrs Jon Hunt Mrs Caroline Jackson Mrs Raymonde Jay Mrs Ghislaine Kane Dr Elisabeth Kehoe Mrs Kit Kemp MBE
Paul and Susie Kempe Miss Rebecca Kemsley Mr Gerald Kidd Mr and Mrs James Kirkman Mrs Anna Kirrage Mrs Aboudi Kosta Mrs Alkistis Koukouliou Mr and Mrs Herbert Kretzmer Mr Matthew Langton Jessica Lavooy Ms Patricia Lawrie Mrs Anna Lee Ms Jolana Leinson Lady Lever of Manchester Richard Burger and Rachel Lipson Mr Jeremy and Dr Julie Llewelyn Miss R Lomax-Simpson Sir John MacTaggart Mr George Maher Ms Julie Major Olivier and Priscilla Malingue Mr Richard Mansell-Jones Mr Charles Martin Gillian McIntosh Andrew and Judith McKinna Itxaso Mediavilla-Murray The Anthony and Elizabeth Mellows Charitable Settlement Ms Bona Montagu Mrs Alexandra Nash Mrs Tessa Nicholson Patrick and Bénédicte de Nonneville Emma O’Donoghue Flavia Ormond Neil Osborn and Holly Smith Sir Michael Palin Maria N. Peacock Mr and Mrs D J Peacock Mr Adam and Mrs Michelle Plainer Mary Pollock Ms Susan Prevezer QC Lady Purves Ms Mouna Rebeiz Mrs Catherine Rees Peter Rice Esq Erica Roberts Miss Elaine Rowley Sir Paul and Lady Ruddock Sarah Ryan Mr S Kahan Mrs Janice Sacher Mr Adrian Sassoon Christina, Countess of Shaftesbury Mr David Shaw Ms Elena Shchukina Dr Shirley Sherwood OBE Mrs Jane Smith Lady Henrietta St George Mr Marc St John Miss Sarah Straight Mrs Ziona Strelitz Ms Catherine Sutton Anne Elizabeth Tasca Mr Anthony J Todd Mrs Kirsten Tofte Jensen Mrs Narmali Utley John and Carol Wates The Duke and Duchess of Wellington Mrs Adriana Winters Marek and Penny Wojciechowski Mr and Mrs Maurice Wolridge Mr Riccardo Zacconi and those who wish to remain anonymous YOUNG PATRONS PLATINUM Mr Toby Noskwith GOLD Bella Kesoyan SILVER Daniel Boehm Mr Nicholas Bonsall Ariana Brighenti Mr Matthew Charlton XiaoMeng Cheng Dr Brian Fu Miss Lemara Grant Mr Phoebus Istavrioglu Peter Jones Miss Min Kemp Sergey Kozlov Miss Matilda Liu Christina Makris Patrick McCrae Ms Julie Scotto Irene Sieberger Gigi Surel and those who wish to remain anonymous
PATRON DONORS Geoffrey Ainsworth and Johanna William The de Laszlo Foundation Maryam Eisler William Brake Charitable Trust Mr D H Killick The Michael and Nicola Sacher Charitable Trust Jake and Hélène Marie Shafran Mrs Denise Vohra Mr and Mrs Anthony Williams Ms Cynthia Wu and those who wish to remain anonymous TRUSTEES OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY TRUST Registered Charity No. 1067270 HONORARY PRESIDENT HRH The Prince of Wales KG KT GCB OM AK QSO ADC TRUSTEES Lady Alison Myners (Chair) Rob Suss (Deputy Chair) President of the Royal Academy (ex officio) Treasurer of the Royal Academy (ex officio) Mr Petr Aven Mr Aryeh Bourkoff Mr Varun Chandra Mr Richard Chang Dr Adrian Cheng Ms Melanie Clore Lady Deighton Sir Lloyd Dorfman CBE Mr Pesh Framjee Mr Stephen Gosztony Lady Heywood Mr Clive Humby OBE Dame Carolyn McCall Mr Scott Mead Mrs Batia Ofer Mrs Ina Sandmann Mrs Sian Westerman Ms Andrea Wong The Hon William Yerburgh EMERITUS AND HONORARY TRUSTEES Lord Aldington Mrs Susan Burns Sir James Butler CBE DL Sir David Cannadine FBA Sir Richard Carew Pole Bt OBE DL Sir Trevor Chinn CVO Mr John Coombe Ms Elizabeth Crain Lord Davies of Abersoch CBE Ambassador Edward E Elson Mr John Entwistle OBE Mr Michael Gee The Rt Hon the Earl of Gowrie PC HRH Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece C Hugh Hildesley Mrs Anya Hindmarch CBE Mrs Susan Ho The Lady Lever of Manchester Sir Sydney Lipworth QC The Rt Hon Lord Luce GCVO DL Mr Philip Marsden Sir Keith Mills GBE DL Mr Ludovic de Montille Mrs Minori Mori Mr John Raisman CBE John Roberts Esq FRIBA Sir Simon Robertson Sir Evelyn de Rothschild Mrs Maryam Sachs The Hon Richard Sharp Mr David Stileman Mr Peter Williams JAPANESE COMMITTEE OF HONOUR Mr Hiroaki Fujii (Chair) and Mrs Fujii CORPORATE MEMBERS Mr Nobuyuki Idei (I Concept) and Mrs Idei Mr Yoshitoshi Kitajima (Dai Nippon Printing Co Ltd) and Mrs Kitajima Mr Shinzo Maeda and Mrs Maeda (Shiseido Co Ltd) Mr Yoshihiko Miyauchi (ORIX Corporation) and Mrs Miyauchi Mr Yuzaburo Mogi (Kikkoman Corporation) and Mrs Mogi Mrs Minoru Mori (Mori Building Co Ltd) Mr Takeo Obayashi (Obayashi Corporation) and Mrs Obayashi Mr Nobutada Saji (Suntory Holding Co Ltd) and Mrs Saji Mr Toichi Takenaka (Takenaka Corporation) and Mrs Takenaka Mr Yuzo Yagi (Yagi Tsusho Ltd) and Mrs Yagi
PATRONS Prof Tadao Ando Hon RA and Mrs Ando HE Ambassador Hiroaki Fujii (Chair) and Mrs Fujii Mr Shinji Fukukawa and Mrs Fukukawa Prof Arata Isozaki Hon RA and Mrs Isozaki Mr Hideo Morita and Mrs Morita Mr Koichi Nezu and Mrs Nezu Mr Yoji Shimizu and Mrs Shimizu Mr Masayoshi Son and Mrs Son Mr Jonathan Stone and Mrs Stone Mrs Tadao Suzuki Mr Hideya Taida Hon CBE and Mrs Taida Mr Shuji Takashina and Mrs Takashina Mr Tsuneharu Takeda and Mrs Takeda Mr Hiroyasu Tomita and Mrs Tomita Mrs Toshio Yamazaki DIRECTOR Mrs Yu Serizawa SECRETARIAT Mrs Yuko Tadano CORPORATE MEMBERSHIP OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS Launched in 1988, the Royal Academy’s Corporate Membership Scheme offers company benefits for staff, clients and community partners and access to the Academy’s facilities and resources. We thank all members for their valuable support and continued enthusiasm. ASSOCIATE Bank of America Beaumont Nathan Art Advisory Ltd BNP Paribas Bonhams 1793 Ltd British American Tobacco Deutsche Bank AG London GlaxoSmithKline PLC Imperial College Healthcare Charity Lazard Morgan Stanley & Co International PLC Rolex Sanlam UK SMBC Ten Group The Cultivist Tulchan CORPORATE Bird & Bird LLP Bloomberg LP The Boston Consulting Group Christie’s Generation Investment Management LLP Holdingham Group Index Ventures John Lewis Partnership Lindsell Train LetterOne Marie Curie Ridgeway Partners The Royal Society of Chemistry Sisk Sky Trowers & Hamlins LLP UBS Wealth Management Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP PREMIER The Arts Club BNY Mellon Cazenove Capital Management Charles Stanley Chestertons Convex UK Services Limited FTI Consulting LLP Insight Investment JM Finn & Co JTI KPMG LLP Linklaters LLP Ocean Outdoor Smith & Williamson Sotheby’s CORPORATE FOUNDING BENEFACTORS BNY Mellon Index Ventures Newton Investment Management Ralph Lauren Sisk Sky CORPORATE SPONSORS AND SUPPORTERS Art Fund Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa Blackwall Green
BNP Paribas BNY Mellon, Anniversary Partner of the Royal Academy of Arts Bottega Veneta Burberry Charles Stanley Associates Christie’s City of Málaga Derwent London Diputación de Málaga Costa del Sol Edwardian Hotels Estrella Damm La Fundación Bancaria Unicaja Lorcan O’Neill Google Arts and Culture The Government of Flanders Hauser & Wirth Hermès HS1 Ltd HTC VIVE iGuzzini Insight Investment Italian Trade Agency Jaeger-LeCoultre JM Finn & Co Momart New Zealand Newton Investment Management Octopus Energy Offer Waterman Papua New Guinea Phillips The Pictet Group Rocco Forte Hotels Sky Arts Stewarts Tileyard London The Kingdom of Tonga Turkish Ceramics Unicaja Banco Viking Vhernier Wells Fargo White & Case White Cube Xavier Hufkens BENEFACTORS OF THE RA LEARNING PROGRAMME The Nicholas Bacon Charitable Trust Jeanne and William Callanan Capital Group The Clore Duffield Foundation Dunard Fund Robin Hambro The Margaret and Richard Merrell Foundation Merrell Foundation Alexandra Nash Peacock Charitable Trust Peter Storrs Charitable Trust The Rothschild Foundation Lord Leonard and Lady Estelle Wolfson Foundation Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects BENEFACTORS OF THE RA EXHIBITION PROGRAMME Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne Blavatnik Family Foundation Brooke Brown Barzun Cate Olson and Nash Robbins Cockayne Grants for the Arts Dunard Fund Francis Bacon MB Art Foundation Garcia Family Foundation Genesis Foundation Ivor Braka Kathryn Uhde Lars Bane Ömer Koç Peter and Geraldine Williams Petr Aven Pro Helvetia Rosemary Lomax Simpson Scott and Laura Malkin Tavolozza Foundation The Daiwa Anglo Japanese Foundation The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation The Japan Foundation The Magic Trust The Terra Foundation for American Art The Thompson Family Charitable Trust The Fanzhi Foundation for Art and Education and those who wish to remain anonymous RA BENEFACTORS The Atlas Fund CHK Foundation Joseph Strong Frazer Trust
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