Kyōsai rakuga 暁斎楽画

FSC-GR-780.295.1-3

Commentary by Oikawa Shigeru

Posted December 6, 2016

(Original unedited text in Japanese follows)

The term “rakuga” (楽画), or “amusing pictures,” in the title of this two-volume book indicates that it was executed in a less formal, less fettered manner. Kyōsai rakuga (Amusing pictures by Kyōsai) differs from Kyōsai’s other illustrated books in its lavish use of numerous color blocks, and each of its two volumes (“Heaven” 乾 and “Earth” 坤) in the first edition contain seventeen compositions in diverse styles that are spread across the two-page opening. Each figure is signed and has the artist’s seal. Although the signatures are printed, the seals have been stamped individually by hand. There are also select later editions with pages misbound. Later imprints lack seals and are easily distinguishable from the first printings done under the supervision of Kyōsai and the publisher Morita Tetsugorō and Takeda Den’emon.

The Pulverer copy has seals and is thus a first printing. Gamō Shigeaki (1833–1901) wrote the preface and Atomi Kakei (1840–1926) provided the calligraphy. Tentendō (Takabatake) Ransen (1838–1885) wrote the afterword, which the calligrapher Kimura Unkei (1829–1880) rendered for this work. All of these men were artists, calligraphers, or doctors in Kyōsai’s circle.

The subjects in Kyōsai rakuga belong to the genre of “flower-and-bird pictures” (kachōga), and within Kyōsai’s artistic repertory work in this area is rare. The artist seems to have spent considerable time in closely observing the animals portrayed; they are done in such fine detail that they almost seem to come alive on the page. The compositions show a variety of animals, including “A Sparrow Startled by a Mole,” “A Duckling Sparring with a Lizard,” “Baby Mouse and Cat,” “Pups Playing with a Ball in the Snow,” “Sparrow Caught by a Snake,” “Rabbit,” and “Rooster and Weasel.” The fifth illustrated opening in the “Earth” volume, “Three Geese,” appeared as the cover image for volume 29 (1889) of the French journal Le Japon artistique: documents d'art et d'industrie. This is evidence that Kyōsai’s work was known in the West from a relatively early date.

The woodblocks for Kyōsai rakuga were later transferred from the Tokyo publisher Morita Tetsugorō, who was responsible for the Pulverer copy, to the Kyoto publisher Unsōdō, who reprinted it during the Taishō period under the title Kyōsai gafu (Kyōsai’s album). (This undated Unsōdō printing is different from the similarly titled Kyōsai gafu, FSC-GR-780.292.) In this later copy, however, the order of the images is radically different. Moreover, the composition “Tiger and Cub” has been added to the “Earth: volume, making a total of seventeen images for the “Heaven” volume, and eighteen images in the “Earth” volume. In 1874 (Meiji 7), thirteen ōban-format color woodblock prints (nishiki-e) with the Kyōsai rakuga title were released, but these have no connection to this book.

書名暁斎楽画

執筆者　及川茂　

「楽画」とは「本画」よりも気楽に描いた作品という意味である。暁斎の他の絵本と異なり、多くの色版を用いた豪華な絵本で、乾坤それぞれ見開き17図からなり、各図に暁斎の署名と印がある。署名は版刻されているが、印は一枚一枚に手作業で押されている。原則として同じ図には同じ印が押されているが、印が異なる例も多く、また乱丁と思われるページの順番の乱れも多い。なお後摺本には印がないので初摺との判別は容易である。

序文は蒲生重章Gamō Shigeaki （1833–1901）で、跡見花渓Atomi Kakei（1840–1926）の書calligraphy、後書きは転々堂（高畠）藍泉Tentendō (Takabatake) Ransen（1838–1885）の文で、書は（木村）雲渓Kimura Unkei（1829–1880）、いずれも暁斎の周辺の絵師、書家、医師などである。

暁斎には珍しい花鳥画であるが、動物の観察に長い時間をかけた暁斎らしく、どの動物も生けるがごとき繊細さで描かれており、「もぐらに驚く雀」「とかげを争う小鴨」「子ネズミと猫」「雪の中で鞠を取り合う子犬」「蛇に捕まる雀」「うさぎ」「雄鶏とイタチ」など、描かれる動物の種類も様々である。なお坤巻の5図「3羽の鵞鳥」はLe Japon artistique29号（1889）の表紙に使われている。暁斎の作品が早くに欧米に知られていたことがわかる。版木は後に芸艸堂Unsōdōに移り、『暁斎畫譜』の題で復刻本が出されたが、絵の順番はまったく異なり、また「虎の親子」の図が加えられて乾巻17図、坤巻18図となっている。なお明治7年に『暁斎楽画』と題された大判錦絵13点が出されたが、これは本書とは関係はない。

Select readings:

Timothy Clark, Demon of Painting (London: British Museum, 1993), 144.

Collection Philipe Burty (Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1891), 157.

Jack Hillier, The Art of the Japanese Book, 2 vols. (London: Sotheby’s Publications by Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd., 1987), see esp. vol. 2, 938.

Yoshida Susugu吉田漱, Nikaidō Mitsugu 二階堂充, and Scott Johnson スコット・ジョンソン, Kyōsai rakuga 『暁斎楽画』(Repr., Warabi City: Kawanabe Kyōsai Memorial Museum, 1985).

Copies in other collections:

Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris

British Museum, London

Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt am Main