Kawanabe-Kyosai.

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Description:

During his learning, which started when he was only 6 years old, > Kyõsai (1831-1889) successively studied for 2 years (considered his seminal years) under the famous Ukiyo-e master Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861), the school of Kano painter Meamura Towa (? - 1841) where he was nicknamed 'Shuchu gaki' (Demon of Painting) and the school of Kano Tohaku (? - 1851), who was the head of the Surugadai branch of the Kano school. At this latter he also produced his first known work, Bishamon.

Kyõsai became an independent artist and specialized in the genre known as Kyoga ('Crazy Pictures') from which he derived the name Kyõsai. Kyo means ' wild' or 'crazy'. The eccentric painter led a rather dissolute life, was married four times and discovered his taste for sake wine and courtesans at an early age. He was arrested several times for instance in October 1870 when he had painted some provocative works (he was drunk) that satirized the authorities. On the other hand, he was an extraordinarily talented artist and his incredibly imaginative and original work, varying from the traditional to the bizarre and the fantastic, bare no relations to any known artworks of any other Japanese or Western artists. Many of his designs are comic, satiric and sketchy while others are strange, weird and frightening.

In 2000 at an auction held at Christies London a painting (a two-fold screen) by > Kyõsai was hammered at nearly GBP 400,000 which is the largest amount ever paid for a Meiji painting to this day.

The 'Flower Calendar ' -series below ( if intact ) can also be acquired as a whole for Euro 4250,- !

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Famous Shunga - Kawanabe Kyõsai - Koban Masterpiece - Shoki The Demon Dweller - c.1870.

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Description:

Antique Japanese color woodblock by Kawanabe Kyõsai (1831-1889). Shunga (Erotic print).
Date: 1870. Koban size: 5" x 3 1/2" inches. Fine impression, color and condition.
Signature: Kyosai always signed his erotic work (in this case in the below left corner!).
Series: 'Flower Calendar (Hanagoyomi)'. Title: 'Lovers in a Carp Streamer - For the Month of May'.
Wonderful printed details such as metallic pigments and embossing.

On this design:

"...A familiar subject in Kyõsai's oeuvre is Shõki the demon queller chasing a demon (oni). One of his finest 'Shoki' compositions is a painting housed in the collection of the Linden-Museum Stuttgart which shows the demon queller following an oni, who is hiding in the mouth of a paper carp streamer (koinobori). In a shunga version of this theme Kyõsai also depicts Shõki in pursuit of the demon, but in a comic twist the oni has been replaced by a couple making love (cat. no. 88a). This small koban-size print is from a series of twelve images entitled 'Flower Calendar (Hanagoyomi)' , in which each sheet represents one of the twelve months and includes text by an unidentified author. The association of the carp streamer with the Boy's Festival on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month (May) and the fact that Shõki is known as a guardian of children are the first clues that this composition is linked to May.

Additional hints lie in the dialogue inscribed on the sliding door and the wall in the background. It begins to the far right with the man exclaiming 'Good, good, superb!' (yokutte, yokutte, kotaerarenehe) and includes the number five and the character dai (long). This indicates that the print was published in 1870, a year when May was a 'long' month (30 days, a 'short' month is 29 days). The young woman then tells the man to wait. He asks why, and his words are followed by the number thirty. This is an allusion to the 'Blue Warrior Festival' (Kõshinmachi), which in 1870 took place on the thirtieth day of May. The man explains that he finds the carp streamer a cosy place to make love. But the woman repeats that he should wait, using the expression 'han-goshõ' (goshõ means 'pardon me'; han or 'half' was added for the sake of punning) and the number twenty-nine. In 1870, the twenty-ninth day of May marked mid-year (han-geshõ), or more precisley the eleventh day after the summer solstice, and the author creates a wordplay with the terms han-goshõ and han-geshõ. The final words of the couple, integrating the number three, state that they do not like the rainy season. This is another allusion to May, as the beginning of the rainy season (nyûbai) fell on the third day of the month". (excerpt from the article 'Meiji Shunga: The Comic Genius of Kawanabe Kyõsai ' by Oikawa Shigeru)

Reference: Ill.88a on p.219 in 'Japanese Erotic Fantasies' by C. Uhlenbeck and M. Winkel.

Kyõsai is one of the greatest shunga masters and his erotic work is rarely seen on the art market !

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Rare Shunga - Kawanabe Kyõsai - Peeking Old Man - Noh Mask - c.1870.

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Description:

Antique Japanese color woodblock by Kawanabe Kyõsai (1831-1889). Shunga (Erotic print).
Date: 1870. Koban size: 5" x 3 1/2" inches. Fine impression, color and condition.
Signature: Kyosai always signed his erotic work (in this case in the below right corner!).
Series: 'Flower Calendar (Hanagoyomi)'. Wonderful printed details such as metallic pigments
and embossing.

An older man wearing a noh mask is peeking on a sleeping woman from underneath a blanket.

Kyõsai is one of the greatest shunga masters and his erotic work is rarely seen on the art market !

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Rare Shunga - Kawanabe Kyõsai - Evil Spirit - c.1870.

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Description:

Antique Japanese color woodblock by Kawanabe Kyõsai (1831-1889). Shunga (Erotic print).
Date: 1870. Koban size: 5" x 3 1/2" inches. Fine impression, color and condition.
Signature: Kyosai always signed his erotic work (in this case on the right between the papers!).
Series: 'Flower Calendar (Hanagoyomi)'. Wonderful printed details such as metallic pigments
and embossing.

A intimate couple is wildly disturbed by an evil spirit on a climactic moment.

Kyõsai is one of the greatest shunga masters and his erotic work is rarely seen on the art market !

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Rare Shunga - Kawanabe Kyõsai - Female Musician - Peeking Boy - c.1870.

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Description:

Antique Japanese color woodblock by Kawanabe Kyõsai (1831-1889). Shunga (Erotic print).
Date: 1870. Koban size: 5" x 3 1/2" inches. Fine impression, color and condition.
Signature: Kyosai always signed his erotic work (in this case on the left behind the woman's back!).
Series: 'Flower Calendar (Hanagoyomi)'. Wonderful printed details such as metallic pigments
and embossing.

A woman is devoutly playing on her shamisen while the dancing man, like the young child,
seem to have other interests.

Kyõsai is one of the greatest shunga masters and his erotic work is rarely seen on the art market !

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Rare Shunga - Kawanabe Kyõsai - Demon - c.1870.

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Description:

Antique Japanese color woodblock by Kawanabe Kyõsai (1831-1889). Shunga (Erotic print).
Date: 1870. Koban size: 5" x 3 1/2" inches. Fine impression, color and condition.
Signature: Kyosai always signed his erotic work (in this case on the left side under the demon's hand!).
Series: 'Flower Calendar (Hanagoyomi)'. Wonderful printed details such as metallic pigments and embossing.

An intimate couple is interrupted by an aroused demon (oni) who's running from behind a folding screen with a fan in his hand.

Kyõsai is one of the greatest shunga masters and his erotic work is rarely seen on the art market !

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Rare Shunga - Kawanabe Kyõsai - Festival - c.1870.

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Description:

Antique Japanese color woodblock by Kawanabe Kyõsai (1831-1889). Shunga (Erotic print).
Date: 1870. Koban size: 5" x 3 1/2" inches. Fine impression, color and condition.
Signature: Kyosai always signed his erotic work (in this case in the right corner under poem!).
Series: 'Flower Calendar (Hanagoyomi)'. Wonderful printed details such as metallic pigments
and embossing.

A couple is making love while preparing for a festival.

Kyõsai is one of the greatest shunga masters and his erotic work is rarely seen on the art market !

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Rare Shunga - Kawanabe Kyõsai - Noh Dancer - Sex Through Folding Screen - c.1870.

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Description:

Antique Japanese color woodblock by Kawanabe Kyõsai (1831-1889). Shunga (Erotic print).
Date: 1870. Koban size: 5" x 3 1/2" inches. Fine impression, color and condition.
Signature: Kyosai always signed his erotic work (in this case in the below left corner!).
Series: 'Flower Calendar (Hanagoyomi)'. Wonderful printed details such as metallic pigments
and embossing.

A noh dancer with an erected penis is watching two musicians having intercourse through
a broken sliding door.

Kyõsai is one of the greatest shunga masters and his erotic work is rarely seen on the art market !

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Rare Shunga - Kawanabe Kyõsai - Laughing Fox Mask - c.1870.

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Description:

Antique Japanese color woodblock by Kawanabe Kyõsai (1831-1889). Shunga (Erotic print).
Date: 1870. Koban size: 5" x 3 1/2" inches. Fine impression, color and condition.
Signature: Kyosai always signed his erotic work (in this case in the below right corner!).
Series: 'Flower Calendar (Hanagoyomi)'. Wonderful printed details such as metallic pigments
and embossing.

The man on the left seems to be under the spell of a spirit which causes the stretching of his body parts.
Striking in the image is the laughing fox mask which signifies the fox spirits.

Kyõsai is one of the greatest shunga masters and his erotic work is rarely seen on the art market !

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Rare Shunga - Kawanabe Kyõsai - Angry Crab - c.1870.

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Description:

Antique Japanese color woodblock by Kawanabe Kyõsai (1831-1889). Shunga (Erotic print).
Date: 1870. Koban size: 5" x 3 1/2" inches. Fine impression, color and condition.
Signature: Kyosai always signed his erotic work (in this case in the below right corner!).
Series: 'Flower Calendar (Hanagoyomi)'. Wonderful printed details such as metallic pigments
and embossing.

Hilarious design depicting a crab attacking the man's genitals immediately after ejaculating.

Kyõsai is one of the greatest shunga masters and his erotic work is rarely seen on the art market !

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Rare Shunga - Kawanabe Kyõsai - Street Orgy - Rakes - c.1870.

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Description:

Antique Japanese color woodblock by Kawanabe Kyõsai (1831-1889). Shunga (Erotic print).
Date: 1870. Koban size: 5" x 3 1/2" inches. Fine impression, color and condition.
Signature: Kyosai always signed his erotic work (in this case left to the cartouche!).
Series: 'Flower Calendar (Hanagoyomi)'. Wonderful printed details such as metallic pigments
and embossing.

Eight people are having a sex orgy in the streets. They are holding rakes which were used to carefully
rake pebbles into patterns each day in the Zen gardens of the temples.

Kyõsai is one of the greatest shunga masters and his erotic work is rarely seen on the art market !

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Rare Shunga - Kawanabe Kyõsai - Anilingus - c.1870.

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Description:

Antique Japanese color woodblock by Kawanabe Kyõsai (1831-1889). Shunga (Erotic print).
Date: 1870. Koban size: 5" x 3 1/2" inches. Fine impression, color and condition.
Signature: Kyosai always signed his erotic work (in this case below left corner!).
Series: 'Flower Calendar (Hanagoyomi)'. Wonderful printed details such as metallic pigments
and embossing.

An older aristocratic man is making love (performing anilingus) to his Rubenesque wife on a verandah.

Kyõsai is one of the greatest shunga masters and his erotic work is rarely seen on the art market !

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Rare Shunga - Kawanabe Kyõsai - Mushrooms - c.1870.

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Description:

Antique Japanese color woodblock by Kawanabe Kyõsai (1831-1889). Shunga (Erotic print).
Date: 1870. Koban size: 5" x 3 1/2" inches. Fine impression, color and condition.
Signature: Kyosai always signed his erotic work (in this case below the tree!).
Series: 'Flower Calendar (Hanagoyomi)'. Wonderful printed details such as metallic pigments
and embossing.

Highly amusing scene of a young girl and boy going beserk when they encounter a gigantic "mushroom".

Kyõsai is one of the greatest shunga masters and his erotic work is rarely seen on the art market !

The 'Flower Calendar ' -series above ( if intact ) can also be acquired as a whole for Euro 4250,- !