JAPANESE ART > UKIYO-E WOODBLOCK PRINTS > SEIGEN AND PRINCESS SAKURA

Lot 00519
N.1 ukiyo-e woodblock print

Utagawa Kuniyoshi

SEIGEN AND PRINCESS SAKURA

Year: 1845 ca.
Condition: very good
Size: 23 x 35 cm

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The whole sky / has become / the color of sakura. / The inhabitants of Saga / walk among the flowers (空はみな / さくらの色と / なりにけり / 花ふみわける / 嵯峨の里人). The words of the poetic composition "Sakurabito" (櫻人), visible in the upper inset cartouche, introduce this elegant representation of the monk Seigen (清玄) and of princess Sakura (さくら姫), two of the protagonists of the "Sakurahime Azuma Bunsho" (桜姫東文章), a complex, and partly even macabre, story of love and conspiracies of kabuki theater.

The precious woodblock print was made by the artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) and is the third supplement to the "Gleanings from the Cloudy Chapters of the Tale of Genji" (源氏雲拾遺), a series of prints depicting stories and legends inspired by the chapters of famous Genji Monogatari (源氏物語).

The work, printed around 1845 by the publisher Iseya Ichibei (伊勢屋市兵衛), is in very good general condition.

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