About This Print
A kabuki actor wearing makeup for the part of Soga Gorō is painting a Cloud Dragon (unryū) to welcome the Year of the Dragon, which began January 30, 1892. Behind the painting sits a gigo (prostitute). This print appeared in the October 1893 issue of the magazine Bijutsu Sekai.
The Magazine Bijutsu Sekai
Source: Woodblock Kuchi-e Prints: Reflections of Meiji Culture, Helen Merritt and Nanako Yamada, University of Hawaii Press, 2000Twenty-five issues of Bijutsu Sekai 美術世界 (World of Art) were published from December 22, 1890 until the final issue on January 2, 1894. The magazine presented fifteen or more works of well-known contemporary and past master artists to the public in woodblock form in each issue. The woodblocks were either reproductions of paintings in reduced-size or original woodblocks. Published by Shun'yōdō 春陽堂, a Tokyo publishing firm best known for publishing illustrated novels, each issued was edited by the nihonga artist and designer of woodblock prints, Watanabe Seitei 渡辺省亭1 (1851-1918), who specialized in kachoga (bird and flower paintings).
Artists' works appearing in the magazine included those of Seitei himself, Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831-1889), Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892), Kōno Bairei (1844-1895), Kobayashi Eitaku (1843-1890), Imao Keinen (1845-1923), Shibata Zeshin (1807-1891), Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806), Maruyama Ōkyo (1733-1795), Yosa Buson (1716-1784) and Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). The final issue, volume 25, consisted of works only by Seitei.
Woodblock printing was done by Yoshida Ichimatsu (1866-1924) and the woodblocks were carved by Gotō Tokujirō.
For more details on the magazine see the article on this site titled Bijutsu Sekai (World of Art).
1 also seen written in Japanese as 渡邊省亭
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #2531 |
| Title or Description |  辰年試筆【雲龍･曽我五郎･妓女】美術世界 巻廿四 note: title is copied from the table of contents appearing Volume 24 |
| Artist | Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831-1889) |
| Signature |  Seisei Kyōsai 惺々暁斎 |
| Seal |  unread seal |
| Publication Date | October 17, 1893 |
| Publisher | Shun'yōdō 春陽堂; proprietor Wada Tokutarō 和田篤太郎 |
| Carver | Gotō Tokujirō 五島徳次郎 |
| Printer | Yoshida Ichimatsu 吉田市松 (1866-1924) |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | good - margins trimmed to image |
| Genre | ukiyo-e; 美術雑誌 art magazine |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Format | |
| H x W Paper | 7 1/2 x 5 1/8 in. (19.1x 13 cm) |
| H x W Image | |
| Collections This Print | Harvard Library https://iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/view/drs:52409570$1i (all twenty-five volumes shown) |
| Reference Literature |
7/26/2021
 |  |  |  |  |