#71 Dainagon Tsunenobu and Demon, Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Artwork Overview

Utagawa Kuniyoshi, #71 Dainagon Tsunenobu and Demon
Utagawa Kuniyoshi, #71 Dainagon Tsunenobu and Demon
#71 Dainagon Tsunenobu and Demon
circa 1840–1842, Edo period (1600–1868)
1797–1861
#71 Dainagon Tsunenobu and Demon, circa 1840–1842, Edo period (1600–1868)
Portfolio/Series title: Hyakunin isshu no uchi (The One Hundred Poets)
Where object was made: Japan
Material/technique: color woodcut
Dimensions:
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 374.7 x 247.7 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 14 3/4 x 9 3/4 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 19 x 14 in
Credit line: Gift of H. Lee Turner
Accession number: 1968.0001.060
Not on display
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Archive Label date unknown: The world of the supernatural was a popular subject for printmakers of the mid to late nineteenth century. Ghosts and demons hover at the edges of everyday reality, intruding into the world of human experience in dramatic, horrifying, frightening or even humorous fashion. Kuniyoshi was one of the first artists to explore this subject in the popular medium of the woodblock print. In this depiction of the courtier and waka poet Minamoto Tsunenobu (1016-1097), Kuniyoshi breaks with a long tradition of depicting the 100 classical poets in formal pose and with artistic restraint. Here, Tsunenobu looks up from composing a late night poem to find a demon looming over him. While the inscriptions describe a conventional poetic dialogue in which the demon responds with a Chinese poem to Tsunenobu's Japanese composition, the visual impact of the dark, towering figure is both immediate and terrifying.