100 Dogs Of War: Samurai Art by Yoshitoshi (Ukiyo-e Master Specials) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1840683163 ISBN 13: 9781840683165

Publisher: Shinbaku Books, 2014

Synopsis

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi's triptychs and portrait series of the 1860s were predominatly musha-e ("warrior prints"), often with added mythological elements, and invariably drawn from Japanese military history, mostly from the 12th to 16th centuries. Yoshitoshi's major musha-e series, in terms of both its scope and its dynamic visual experimentation, remains Kaidai hyaku senso, or 100 Dogs Of War.

Yoshitoshi was reputedly driven to create this series in 1868 after witnessing first-hand the bloody Battle of Ueno, a decisive clash of the civil war in Japan. Although inspired by recent events, the series again depicted warriors from Japanese history, showing some clasping bloody severed heads as trophies of war, others with their own viscera spilling out from the "belly cut" of seppuku (ritual suicide), others in the heat of battle firing guns, hurling spears, wielding swords or dodging bullets. Every aspect of war is represented. There are 65 known completed prints from the series, and several surviving drawings and sketches for designs which apparently never reached fruition; failure to complete the set is attributed both to censorship and to the nervous breakdown which Yoshitoshi reportedly experienced in 1869, an event which resulted in his virtual disappearance from the ukiyo-e scene for the following two years.

This Ukiyo-e Master Special edition of Yoshitoshi's 100 Dogs Of War contains not only Yoshitoshi's full set of 65 completed battle prints, reproduced in full-size and full-colour, but also several fascinating preparatory drawings for unfinished designs. The collection also features an extensive illustrated introduction on Yoshitoshi's warrior prints from 1853 to 1889, bringing the total number of colour reproductions in the book to over 90.

Ukiyo-e Master Specials: presenting individual art series by the greatest print-designers and painters of Edo-period and Meiji-period Japan.

About this title

About the Author

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839 ― 1892) is one of the most famous of all ukiyo-e artists.

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INTRODUCTION

1. 1853-1869

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi's earliest known surviving print, dating from 1853 when he was 14 or 15 years of age, is of a classic musha-e ("warrior print") subject ― the suicide of Taira no Tomomori who, at the battle of Dan-no-Ura in 1185, tied himself to an anchor and descended to the ocean depths to join his drowned and defeated comrades. Relatively few other prints by Yoshitoshi are known from this early period up to 1860, but a good percentage of those ― such as the triptychs Ichiharano Kidomaru ("The outlaw Kidomaru at Ichihara", 1859) or Kusunoki Tamonmaru kori taiju ("Kusunoki Tamonmaru kills the cunning demon", 1860) ― combine musha-e subjects with mythological elements, a mix which would dominate Yoshitoshi's output throughout the 1860s.

Yoshitoshi's triptych works of 1861 included the highly significant Shizugamine okassen ("The great battle of Shizugamine"), a depiction of samurai displaying the bloody severed heads of their enemies after battle. Notable both for its subject matter and gruesome content, Shizugamine okassen pointed the way forward for the artist, who would produce scores more dynamic and violent battle triptychs during the course of the decade, underpinning his rise to popular status. The content of these works was invariably drawn from Japanese military history, mostly from the 12th to 16th centuries. Yoshitoshi finished the 1860s with several triptych series of varying length, including Bidan musha hakkei ("8 Scenes From Fine Warrior Tales", 1867-68) and Toyotomi shoshinroku "The Rise Of Toyotomi Hideyoshi", 1868); but one of his most interesting triptychs of this period was Zennojo hadakazeme ("Zennojo's Unarmed Attack", 1868), featuring three warriors (one holding a severed head) rendered in the same style as his major musha-e portrait series, Kaidai hyaku senso ("100 Dogs Of War"), which he produced during 1868 and 1869 before reported health issues halted his work...

Edition details

• Publisher: Shinbaku Books
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1840683163
• ISBN 13: 9781840683165
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 104