JAPANESE ART > ABUNA-E WOODBLOCK PRINTS > LOVERS AND KISERU

Lot 00588
N.1 abuna-e woodblock print

Kikukawa Eizan

LOVERS AND KISERU

Period: 1920s
Condition: very good
Size: 39 x 25,5 cm

SOLD

Fine woodblock print of the 1920s, reproduction of a work made between 1800 and 1830 by Kikukawa Eizan (菊川英山), the most prolific, longest-lived and ultimately the best of the late followers of Kitagawa Utamaro (喜多川歌麿), who attempted to carry on the style of the famous ukiyo-e (浮世絵) artist after the death of the latter, occurred in 1806.

The print presented here, depicting a pair of lovers smoking a traditional kiseru (煙管) pipe, is an "abuna-e" (あぶな絵), literally a "dangerous image", which does not have the explicit nudity of shunga (春画) but which, at the same time, maintains an extremely explicit and suggestive erotic charge.

The work on Japanese washi paper (和紙), despite the obvious patina of the time, is in overall very good condition.

Back to home page »