Kunichika | Three Beauties
豐原国周 Toyohara Kunichika (1835–1900)
三美人图
Three Beauties
1833-34
木版画 | 柱绘 | 68cm x 16cm
Woodblock-print | Hashira-e | 68cm x 16cm
品相非常好
Great condition
$1,600
柱绘，顾名思义，是指一类尺幅狭长，可直接作为房柱装饰的浮世绘。其历史可追溯至18世纪30年代，创始人为江户早期著名浮世绘画家奥村政信。作为一位善于变革的天才，政信利用柱绘这一媒介进行了一系列的题材创新，将柱绘成功打入市场，成就了柱绘的首次辉煌；其后的铃木春信、碕田湖龙斋、鸟居清长等一众名家更是将柱绘发扬光大，让其风靡江户近百年。在本作诞生的19世纪末，柱绘早已是老古董般的存在，很少有画家再去创作新的柱绘。但柱绘狭长的特点使其在表现人物，尤其是全身美人时仍有着难以替代的强烈艺术张力。画面中，一位待出嫁的姑娘在两名女子的协助下，穿上了一身朱红色内衬的赤吹白无垢婚衣，幸福之情溢于言表。柱绘的大纵长极好地突出了姑娘亭亭玉立的身姿，同时省去了一切不需要的背景结构，使观者的注意力全部集中于人物之上。新婚的喜悦氛围透过纸面，传递给了你和我；而我们又会将最美好的祝福，毫无保留地献给画中的姑娘。百年前的画作会泛黄，但真情只会历久弥新。
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Toyohara Kunichika (1835–1900)
Toyohara Kunichika’s father ran a bathhouse, and there’s a good deal of sly humor and energy in his son’s work, whether it be in his depictions of historical scenes, beautiful women — bijin — or a gaggle of naked beautiful women cavorting joyously in, yes, a bathhouse.
But without a doubt, Kunichika’s most important genre was yakusha-e, woodblock prints of kabuki actors and scenes from popular plays.
A student of Kunisada, Kunichika worked in both the Edo and Meiji periods and produced more than 120 series for more than 100 publishers. He was fascinated by examples of Western art then being seen for the first time in Japan. Andreas Marks, in his fine book, “Japanese Woodblock Prints,” notes that Kunichika often placed his scenes within frames as if they were oil paintings. And so it was a great honor when he was asked to contribute to the world exhibition in Paris in 1867, at the very dawn of Modern Japan.