The exhibition selected from the permanent collection is now on view from Nov. 2 to Dec.5.
It includes Japanese paintings and woodblock prints from the 17th to the early 20th centuries by TERASAKI Takeo, Ishii Kofu and so on under the theme of "Self -portrait and a Figure", by KITAGAWA Utamaro, UTAGAWA Kuniyoshi,TSUKIOKA Yoshitoshi, KEISAI Eisen, and so on under the theme of "Face, Face, Face".
Special Collection: WATANABE Kazan's portrait paintings, sketches, and so on
Special Collection:YOSHIZAWA Mika's work, with silk-screen ink on an acrylic board, in 1992
Here are some of them.
The title of the hanging scroll made of silk above is 'Portrait of Sato Shinzen' which was drawn by WATANABE Kazan, 渡辺崋山(1793～1841) who was one of the prominent painters of Bunjinga(文人画) such as IKE No Taiga, YOSA Buson, and TANI Buncho during the Edo period. He portrayed Shinzen, a Dutch scholar, in Western painting style of shading his eyes and cheeks.
Kazan was a Feudal retainer of the Tahara domain (田原藩士), scholar, and painter. He criticized the bakufu, shogunate government because of that he was arrested and confined to his house(蟄居). Subsequently he committed suicide.
His another work "Portrait of TAKAMI Senseki" was appreciated as a masterpiece of an early modern picture that was drawn in Western painting style. It is housed in Tokyo National Museum.
This is a part of a sketch album of 'Isso Hyakutai(一掃百態)' drawn by WATANABE Kazan.
When he was 26, he drew the manners and customs of those days.
He was going to publish the book but he didn't. It was published later in 1879(Meiji 12).
The title of the woodblock print above is 'Three Beauties of the Present Day: Tomimoto Toyohina, Naniwaya Kita,Takashima Hisa' by KITAGAWA Utamaro (?～1806). At the center you see Tomimoto Toyohina who was a Geisha, a professional female entertainer at the Yoshiwara yuraku, red-light district, at the bottom right Naniwaya Kita who was a member of the staff at a teahouse in Asakusa, and at the bottom left Takashima Hisa who worked at a teahouse that her father was running at Ryogoku.
Utamaro's Okubie (upper body pictures) of these three beauties were so popular that he depicted the variations of those three beauties which were published by TSUTAYA Juzaburo.
The title of the woodblock print above is 'The Actor Nakamura Utaemon as Toneri Matsuomaru' by UTAGAWA Toyokuni III (1786～1864). He depicted Nakamura Utaemon IV who played Kabuki both at Kamigata(大阪) and at Edo(Tokyo).
The title of the woodblock print above is 'Looking noisy -Appearance of Virgin in the Kansei era, from the series Thirty -two Aspects and Customs' by TSUKIOKA Yoshitoshi (1839～1892). He depicted a girl showing too much affection toward the cat, which might have sounded noisy.
Although TSUKIOKA Yoshitoshi is particularly well-known for his Muzan-e( atrocity prints), his art covered a wide range of historical paintings, paintings of beautiful women, genre paintings(風俗画) of manners and customs, and paintings of classical subjects. He repeatedly suffered from a mental disorder because he depicted bloody scenes against his will to meet the demands of the times. He definitely drew Ukiyo-e and was called "The last ukiyoe artist".
He passed away at the age of 54.
More about Chiba City Museum of Art: please access https://www.tokyo2020chiba.com/post/shall-we-see-the-museums
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