Title : A Scene from Chasing a Pearl

Artist : Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Date : 1853

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Source : Honolulu Museum of Art
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Description : Utagawa Kuniyoshi was born in downtown Edo (current Tokyo), where his family owned a textile-dyeing studio. In 1811, he joined the studio of Utagawa Toyokuni, one of the most popular ukiyo-e artists of the time, who specialized in actor prints. Although Kuniyoshi's work often concentrated on history and legends, he also produced many other genres of prints including images of beautiful women (bijin-ga), Kabuki actors and landscapes. His greatest success lay in the production of warrior and supernatural pictures. This print depicts the story Chasing A Pearl. In the Hakuhö period (7th- 8th centuries), a daughter of Fujiwara no Kamatari, the head of a powerful clan, was given as a consort to an emperor of Tang dynasty (618-906) China. In appreciation, a pearl was sent back to Japan, but while in route was stolen by a dragon king. Kamatari sent a female diver to retrieve it, but she was chased by octopuses, fish, and crocodiles sent by the dragon king. The diver then slit open one of her breasts and hid the pearl inside her chest. Kuniyoshi portrays this dynamic, imaginary (and yet, darkly humorous) scene in a panoramic setting. All of the ocean creatures are personified, which creates a mood similar to that present in manga (contemporary comic books). "Imagination, Power Humor: The Art of Utagawa Kuniyoshi" 10/14/2010 - 12/19/2010 ****************************************

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