tiger | Masterpieces of Japanese Culture

Tiger The tiger has a rounded line and humorous face. The gesture licking its paw is a cute cat rather than a fierce animal. When Ito Jakuchu (1716-1800) drew this artwork in 1755, he just decided to devote himself in painting and handed the family business of the vegetable wholesaler. On the upper right of the screen, Jakuchu wrote 「我画物象非真不図、国無猛虎倣毛益摸」. It means “I have no talent in drowing nature and I won’t. There is any tiger in the country and I reproduced the work of Mao Yi.” But actually, he copied the painting of “Fierce Tiger” at Shodenji Temple in Kyoto. Title:Tiger Date:1755 Size:129.7×71.0cm Owner：Joe Read more about Tiger painted by Ito Jakuchu[…]

Utagawa Kuniyoshi(1797-1861) Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) was one of the ukiyo-e artists who worked extensively as a member of Utagawa School, along with Hiroshige (広重) and Kunisada (国貞）. He established a unique world not found in other ukiyo-e artists. His talent of paint could be compared to Katsushika Hokusai(葛飾北斎）. And thorough the life, he was a totally opposite person to Kunisada. Kuniyoshi was born as a son of a dyeing shop in Nihonbashi, Edo. He was interested in painting from his young age and used to practice paintings as imitating the artworks of Kitao Shigemasa(北尾重政) and Kitao Masayoshi(北尾政美). When he was 15, he became a disciple of the first Utagawa Toyokuni(初代歌川豊国). However, unlike Kunisada, as a typical Read more about Utagawa Kuniyoshi:biography, ukiyo-e prints of samurai and other artworks[…]