Sometimes less is more … more excitement, more mystery and more space for our imagination …
What I love about Japanese woodcuts are the different faces from classical European art. The Japanese are the real inventors of comics!
Another great woodcut by Maestro Tsukioka Yoshitoshi. Until the second world war Japans cities mostly consisted out of wooden buildings. So fire was a real threat to them - and firefighter even more important.
Too sad that American decided to totally devastated these old cities through incendiary bombings - which totally snuffed out most of Japan’s cities BEFORE they dropped the atomic bombs. Actually both cities were spared any air attacks to ’save’ them for the big experiments.
Anyway - this is a great painting. Bugger.
Sit down weary traveler and enjoy a moment of Asian bliss.
Another day in paradise. Just watching just picture fills me with a quiet tranquillity.
Amazing colours, drama, action and a Geisha in distress. I love this painting.
Here we see a famous japanese hero - Minamoto no Yoshitsune:
Because of Yoshitsune’s tragic life and early death, he is one of the greatest folk heroes of Japan, becoming the subject of and influencing many works of Japanese literature and Japanese drama, especially the Tale of the Heike and Gikeiki (the name of which means “The Chronicle of Yoshitsune”), while the details of his life became legendary. For example, legend has it that while at Kurama Temple as a youth, he was trained by tengu, legendary bird-men warriors, in swordsmanship. Most of the tales focus on his later days in exile, fleeing from Yoritomo with his loyal retainers, including the warrior-monk Saito Musashibo Benkei. It is said his few retainers held off a force many times greater than their own to allow Yoshitsune to commit seppuku.
You don’t have to pain realisticly to capture the spirit of nature. Art like this just knocks me over! I love the simplicity on one side and the extreme momentum on the other. Perfect!
More about Ohara Koson here.
