The Samara Regional Art Museum presents a print by the artist Yoshitora Utagawa, a master of ukiyo-e woodblock prints. Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which produces paintings of every-day urban life of the Edo period (1603 — 1868).
It is reliably known that the artist Yoshitora Utagawa was born in Edo (modern Tokyo) and studied under the famous master Utagawa Kuniyoshi. According to Japanese customs, he adopted a pseudonym beginning with the last hieroglyph of his teacher’s name and his surname. In art history, the artist is better known as Yoshitora Ichimosai. Around 1842, for some unknown reason, he was expelled from the school. Yoshitora was forced to change his surname, but despite this, he retained in his work a commitment to the style of Utagawa Kuniyoshi and followed the artistic traditions developed by the teacher, which was especially evident in his history and military series. The last prints of Yoshitora Utagawa are dated to 1880. Presumably, this is the year of his death.
If translated from Japanese, the title of the print from the museum collection reads as follows: “Statue of Ushioda Takanori, one of the 47 Ronin.” This is one of the most common stories about ronin (leaderless samurai) who took revenge on the powerful court official (master of ceremonies) for killing their lord. This print depicts Ushioda Takanori, a martial artist, especially famous for his ability to wield a spear, with which he is depicted. He is also armed with two swords — a katana and a wakizashi (short sword). The sword was considered the most important attribute of a warrior. In the samurai moral code Bushido, it was written that the soul of a samurai is enclosed in his katana. As a rule, samurai wore two swords at once — one long and one short. Ushioda raised the head of the hated master of ceremonies on his spear after the murder and proudly carried it through the streets. The expression of the samurai’s face and his pose — everything in the print expresses heroism, courage and fortitude.
Unlike earlier prints depicting samurai musha-e (woodblock prints of heroic samurai), here the artist depicted not just a fighting warrior, but a symbol of superhuman power and heroism. The master created a special world of sekai — the “world of the heroic”, populated by characters capable of the impossible.
It is reliably known that the artist Yoshitora Utagawa was born in Edo (modern Tokyo) and studied under the famous master Utagawa Kuniyoshi. According to Japanese customs, he adopted a pseudonym beginning with the last hieroglyph of his teacher’s name and his surname. In art history, the artist is better known as Yoshitora Ichimosai. Around 1842, for some unknown reason, he was expelled from the school. Yoshitora was forced to change his surname, but despite this, he retained in his work a commitment to the style of Utagawa Kuniyoshi and followed the artistic traditions developed by the teacher, which was especially evident in his history and military series. The last prints of Yoshitora Utagawa are dated to 1880. Presumably, this is the year of his death.
If translated from Japanese, the title of the print from the museum collection reads as follows: “Statue of Ushioda Takanori, one of the 47 Ronin.” This is one of the most common stories about ronin (leaderless samurai) who took revenge on the powerful court official (master of ceremonies) for killing their lord. This print depicts Ushioda Takanori, a martial artist, especially famous for his ability to wield a spear, with which he is depicted. He is also armed with two swords — a katana and a wakizashi (short sword). The sword was considered the most important attribute of a warrior. In the samurai moral code Bushido, it was written that the soul of a samurai is enclosed in his katana. As a rule, samurai wore two swords at once — one long and one short. Ushioda raised the head of the hated master of ceremonies on his spear after the murder and proudly carried it through the streets. The expression of the samurai’s face and his pose — everything in the print expresses heroism, courage and fortitude.
Unlike earlier prints depicting samurai musha-e (woodblock prints of heroic samurai), here the artist depicted not just a fighting warrior, but a symbol of superhuman power and heroism. The master created a special world of sekai — the “world of the heroic”, populated by characters capable of the impossible.
