.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
published:
Azabu Museum of Art, and Osaka Municipal Art Museum, eds., Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e meihin ten: Azabu bijutsukan shozo/Ukiyo-e Painting Masterpieces in the Collection of the Azabu Museum of Art, introduction by Kobayashi Tadashi, exh. cat. (Tokyo: Azabu Museum of Art; Osaka: Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, 1988), pl. 4.
Azabu Museum of Arts and Crafts, and Japan Institute of Arts and Crafts, eds., Edo no fashon, kaikan kinen ten Part I: Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e ni miru onnatachi no yosooi/"Fashion of Edo": Women's dress in Ukiyo-e Paintings, exh. cat. (Tokyo: Azabu Museum of Arts and Crafts, 1989), pl. 4.
Hyogo Prefectural Museum of History, ed., Tokubetsu ten rakuchu rakugai no purima donna: Yuraku to fuzokuga, 17 seiki (Special exhibition of prima donnas in scenes in and out of the capital: Pleasure and genre painting, the 17th century), exh. cat. (Kobe: Hyogo Prefectural Museum of History, 1993), no. 30.
Iwasa Matabei ten (Iwasa Matabei exhibition), edited by the Fukui Prefectural Museum, exh. cat. (Fukui: Fukui Prefectural Museum, 1984), pl. 33.
Iwasa Matabei to sono shuhen ten (Exhibition of Iwasa Matabei and his circle), introduction by Tsuji Nobuo, exh. cat. (Kamakura: Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, 1971), no. 38.
Kobayashi Tadashi, ed., Azabu bijutsu kogeikan (Azabu Museum of Arts and Crafts), vol. 6 of Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e taikan (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1995), pl. 4.
_____, ed., Tokyo kokuritsu hakubutsukan I (Tokyo National Museum I), vol. 1 of Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e taikan (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1994), p. 194.
Richard Lane, Images from the Floating World: The Japanese Print (Reprint New York: Dorset Press, 1982), no. 3.
Tsuji Nobuo, Iwasa Matabei, vol. 13 of Nihon no bijutsu kaiga zenshu (Tokyo: Shueisha, 1980), ref. no. 35.
_____, Iwasa Matabei, Nihon no bijutsu 12, no. 259 (Tokyo: Shibundo, 1987), no. 91.
Ukiyo-e nikuhitsu meisaku ten (Exhibition of masterpieces of ukiyo-e painting), exh. cat. (Tokyo: Japan Ukiyo-e Society, 1969), no. 11.
For two similar fan paintings in the Tokyo National Museum see Hyogo Prefectural Museum of History, op. cit., no. 31; see also Iizuka Beiu, ed., Fuzoku ga (Genre painting), vol. 18 of Nihonga taisei (Tokyo: Toho Shoin, 1932), nos. 97, 98; and Tsuji Nobuo, Iwasa Matabei, Nihon no bijutsu 12, no. 259 (Tokyo: Shibundo, 1987), no. 84.
According to Edo-period sources, Iwasa Matabei was the father of ukiyo-e. Although no single person can be accorded this prodigious feat, Matabei was among those in the early 17th century instrumental in taking traditional genre painting in a direction that emphasized personal pleasure over public decorousness, hence running counter to the warrior government's vision of the ideal Confucian society. As a result, the official Kano painters for the shogun largely gave up contemporary genre scenes. The samurai in the foreground is a graphic example of the new trend: he has put aside his two swords, symbol of the warrior spirit, and has even turned away from the go board, another emblem of the gentlemanly four accomplishments. He and his handsome young companion in the checkered kimono prefer instead to loll around in unseemly (for Japanese) poses with gorgeously-clad female companions. The couples are playing a game of finger-sumo. The long sleeves and unshaven forelock of the second young man suggest that this scene may in fact represent a love quadrangle. At the time it represented a radical, and daring, shift of vision; by the end of the century artists like Hishikawa Moronobu had firmly launched the ukiyo-e mode. There are many such fan-shaped pieces associated with Matabei.
It is ironic that Matabei himself claimed association with the aristocratic Tosa family of court painters. This is not to say that the Tosa shunned erotic art; a pornographic Tale of Genji, possibly painted by a Tosa artist, delighted a young emperor during the Muromachi period. Rather, it is the contemporary dress and setting (note the inclusion of tobacco, recently introduced by the Portuguese) that places Matabei's work in a different realm from the court artists, who focused on ancient literary themes. It is possible to see traditional Yamato-e influence, nonetheless, in the characteristic pear-shaped faces, whose jaws are noticeably wider than the foreheads, and in the "hook-for-a-nose" and "dot-for-a-mouth" technique. Classical in feeling also are the chaste but deft ink outlines delineating the figures.
Distinguishing works by Matabei's actual hand from the larger number of paintings which bear his seals is a task that continues to baffle connoisseurs. The high quality of this painting suggest that at the very least this fan was painted during Matabei's lifetime by someone in his orbit very familiar with his work. Kobayashi Tadashi suggests that the fan-shaped paintings in lots 1 and 2 probably were originally on the same screen with similar ones in the Tokyo National Museum.
Azabu Museum of Art, and Osaka Municipal Art Museum, eds., Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e meihin ten: Azabu bijutsukan shozo/Ukiyo-e Painting Masterpieces in the Collection of the Azabu Museum of Art, introduction by Kobayashi Tadashi, exh. cat. (Tokyo: Azabu Museum of Art; Osaka: Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, 1988), pl. 4.
Azabu Museum of Arts and Crafts, and Japan Institute of Arts and Crafts, eds., Edo no fashon, kaikan kinen ten Part I: Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e ni miru onnatachi no yosooi/"Fashion of Edo": Women's dress in Ukiyo-e Paintings, exh. cat. (Tokyo: Azabu Museum of Arts and Crafts, 1989), pl. 4.
Hyogo Prefectural Museum of History, ed., Tokubetsu ten rakuchu rakugai no purima donna: Yuraku to fuzokuga, 17 seiki (Special exhibition of prima donnas in scenes in and out of the capital: Pleasure and genre painting, the 17th century), exh. cat. (Kobe: Hyogo Prefectural Museum of History, 1993), no. 30.
Iwasa Matabei ten (Iwasa Matabei exhibition), edited by the Fukui Prefectural Museum, exh. cat. (Fukui: Fukui Prefectural Museum, 1984), pl. 33.
Iwasa Matabei to sono shuhen ten (Exhibition of Iwasa Matabei and his circle), introduction by Tsuji Nobuo, exh. cat. (Kamakura: Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, 1971), no. 38.
Kobayashi Tadashi, ed., Azabu bijutsu kogeikan (Azabu Museum of Arts and Crafts), vol. 6 of Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e taikan (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1995), pl. 4.
_____, ed., Tokyo kokuritsu hakubutsukan I (Tokyo National Museum I), vol. 1 of Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e taikan (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1994), p. 194.
Richard Lane, Images from the Floating World: The Japanese Print (Reprint New York: Dorset Press, 1982), no. 3.
Tsuji Nobuo, Iwasa Matabei, vol. 13 of Nihon no bijutsu kaiga zenshu (Tokyo: Shueisha, 1980), ref. no. 35.
_____, Iwasa Matabei, Nihon no bijutsu 12, no. 259 (Tokyo: Shibundo, 1987), no. 91.
Ukiyo-e nikuhitsu meisaku ten (Exhibition of masterpieces of ukiyo-e painting), exh. cat. (Tokyo: Japan Ukiyo-e Society, 1969), no. 11.
For two similar fan paintings in the Tokyo National Museum see Hyogo Prefectural Museum of History, op. cit., no. 31; see also Iizuka Beiu, ed., Fuzoku ga (Genre painting), vol. 18 of Nihonga taisei (Tokyo: Toho Shoin, 1932), nos. 97, 98; and Tsuji Nobuo, Iwasa Matabei, Nihon no bijutsu 12, no. 259 (Tokyo: Shibundo, 1987), no. 84.
According to Edo-period sources, Iwasa Matabei was the father of ukiyo-e. Although no single person can be accorded this prodigious feat, Matabei was among those in the early 17th century instrumental in taking traditional genre painting in a direction that emphasized personal pleasure over public decorousness, hence running counter to the warrior government's vision of the ideal Confucian society. As a result, the official Kano painters for the shogun largely gave up contemporary genre scenes. The samurai in the foreground is a graphic example of the new trend: he has put aside his two swords, symbol of the warrior spirit, and has even turned away from the go board, another emblem of the gentlemanly four accomplishments. He and his handsome young companion in the checkered kimono prefer instead to loll around in unseemly (for Japanese) poses with gorgeously-clad female companions. The couples are playing a game of finger-sumo. The long sleeves and unshaven forelock of the second young man suggest that this scene may in fact represent a love quadrangle. At the time it represented a radical, and daring, shift of vision; by the end of the century artists like Hishikawa Moronobu had firmly launched the ukiyo-e mode. There are many such fan-shaped pieces associated with Matabei.
It is ironic that Matabei himself claimed association with the aristocratic Tosa family of court painters. This is not to say that the Tosa shunned erotic art; a pornographic Tale of Genji, possibly painted by a Tosa artist, delighted a young emperor during the Muromachi period. Rather, it is the contemporary dress and setting (note the inclusion of tobacco, recently introduced by the Portuguese) that places Matabei's work in a different realm from the court artists, who focused on ancient literary themes. It is possible to see traditional Yamato-e influence, nonetheless, in the characteristic pear-shaped faces, whose jaws are noticeably wider than the foreheads, and in the "hook-for-a-nose" and "dot-for-a-mouth" technique. Classical in feeling also are the chaste but deft ink outlines delineating the figures.
Distinguishing works by Matabei's actual hand from the larger number of paintings which bear his seals is a task that continues to baffle connoisseurs. The high quality of this painting suggest that at the very least this fan was painted during Matabei's lifetime by someone in his orbit very familiar with his work. Kobayashi Tadashi suggests that the fan-shaped paintings in lots 1 and 2 probably were originally on the same screen with similar ones in the Tokyo National Museum.