Kunichika |Toyokuni kigoo kijutsu kurabe Idaten Goroo, A Contest of Magic-scenes by Toyokuni
豐原国周 Toyohara Kunichika (1835–1900)
豊国挥毫奇术竞 韦駄天五郎
Toyokuni kigoo kijutsu kurabe Idaten Goroo, From the series of A Contest of Magic-scenes by Toyokuni
1864
木版画 | 纵绘大判｜35.5cm x 23.8cm
Woodblock-print | Oban tate-e｜35.5cm x 23.8cm
早期版次；颜色鲜艳；经修剪；有托底
Strong impression with rich color; trimmed; backed
《豊国挥毫奇术竞》这个系列是三代目歌川丰国即将逝世前所创作的，37个有关日本妖术师使用妖术大战妖怪的故事。部分画作是由三代丰国的学生丰原国周协助完成，譬如这幅。
画中的主角“韦駄天五郎”，我们也可以直接叫他“韦駄天”。他原本为印度教中的神祇“Skanda”（室建陀），是一位俊俏勇猛的战神。传入佛教之后，“Skanda”被翻译成了“韦駄天”，成为佛教护法天神，二十四诸天之一。“韦駄天”在日语里表示“足が速い人”，用中文说，就叫“飞毛腿”。这次呈现的这幅画便和他“飞毛腿”的传说有关。
话说在释迦去世后，众神商量火化遗体，殊不知在火化场的时候，一只罗刹鬼趁众神不注意盗走了佛骨，即释迦的遗骨。韦驮天见状奋起直追，刹时将罗刹鬼抓获，取回佛骨，赢得诸天众王的赞扬，也因此赢得了“飞毛腿”的美誉。画中的韦駄天体格魁伟，威武勇猛，左手持金刚杵，脚踩风火轮跨越熊熊烈火，从他右手拿着的佛骨可知，此时他已成功将佛骨夺回。整幅画构图饱满，视觉效果强烈，除了韦駄天五郎人物形象和他手中颜色夺目的佛骨，他脚下翻滚于火海中的车轮也是令人印象深刻。
The series "A Contest of Magic Scenes by Toyokuni" was created by Utagawa Toyokuni III (Kunisada), in the final days of his incredible career. It includes 37 stories about Japanese enchanters using sorcery against monsters. Some were completed by Toyokuni III's pupil, Kunichika, as this one was.
The protagonist in this print is " Idaten Goroo " -- we can also call him " Idaten" He was originally a handsome and brave Hindu God of War. Skanda, who became a Buddhist deity. He is known for his great speed which is related to this impressive print.
It is said that after the death of Sakyamuni, the Gods discussed the cremation of the body, but when the Gods were in the cremation field, a Rakshasa ghost stole the bones of the Buddha. Upon seeing the situation, Idaten immediately captured the Rakshasa ghost and retrieved the Buddha's bones. He won the praise of the kings of the heavens. Idaten in the painting is burly, mighty and brave. He holds the vajra in his left hand, and steps on the hot wheel to cross the raging fire. From the Buddha bone he holds in his right hand, it can be seen that he has been successful in his quest. The composition is jam-packed with action and the effect is, frankly, stunning. In addition to the image of Idaten and the dazzling Buddha bones in his hands, the wheels rolling under his feet in the sea of fire are also impressive -- printers created this effect by allowing pigment to oxidize, a cool trick.
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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.