The Japanese painter Kawanaku Akisai (1831-1889), who experienced the shogunate and the Meiji period, is considered to be the last of the traditional Japanese painters. The humor, dynamism and imagination of his work still influence many art styles such as comics of the moment.
But under the fame of Hokusai and Hirose, Kawanabe Xiaozhai is often overlooked. Since March 19, the Royal Academy of Art (RA) in London has launched the "River Pot Xiaozhai Exhibition", which initially studied under the ukiyo-e painter Utagawa Kuniyoshi, and then trained by the Kano school to create a terrible and respectable, cute and ironic image, especially when Impressionist painters such as Monet studied in the East, but the contemporary Kayobe Xiaozhai looked to the West in turn.
Shogakai, circa 1876 – spring of 1878
In 1870, after enjoying the hustle and bustle of the night, Kawanabe entered a Tokyo prison. Unlike most people who end their nights in jail, his fault was not alcoholism, fighting, or theft, but painting a picture. To be sure, River Pot Xiaozhai was drunk. That night, he attended a "calligrapher's meeting", in which the participants drank and painted, and as for what he painted, he himself broke the film.
The exact allegations against Hakusai remain a mystery, but there are rumors that his paintings that night humiliated predatory Westerners and were said to have "insulted important people with vivid metaphors." He was arrested on the spot for the incident in public.
The subsequent prison disaster injured his body but did not damage his reputation. In that era, images were an important means of conveying ideas, and painters used the brushes in their hands to arouse public consciousness. One of them is Kawanaku Akisai, a pioneering painter with a humorous style and skillful technique that has made him a representative of the transition period of modern Japanese society, and his works also have a chronicle meaning.
He was well versed in a variety of styles, created a large number of works, and as a teacher was open-minded and made great friends, which also ensured that his work was preserved as completely as possible. The exhibits of the Royal Academy of Art's "River Pot Xiaozhai Exhibition" are the private collection of art dealer Israel Goldman, whose collection involves different eras and categories, and is one of the important collectors of River Pot Xiaozhai and ukiyo-e.
River Pot Xiaozhai, "Zhong Kui and the Two Little Devils", 1882
Born in 1831, Kawanabe lived in Japan in which he probably had only three places to watch: Kyoto, Osaka, and Edo (now Tokyo). Kyoto's shrines and temples are a testament to a thousand-year-old cultural heritage, while Osaka and Edo have benefited from the relative peace and prosperity of the previous 200 years. In the early 17th century, Tokugawa Ieyasu opened the shogunate and became the de facto ruler of the country. During the shogunate period, the policy of locking the country was implemented, and the samurai class within the country was above that of peasants and craftsmen, and merchants were at the bottom of society.
By the 1830s, the original social classes had fallen apart. The declining samurai class sold their swords, armor, and even samurai status. Kayanagi's father was one of the beneficiaries, and as the son of a rice merchant, he became a subordinate of the shogunate's samurai after being adopted by the samurai family.
When Kawanabe was one year old, the family moved to Edo. Soon, the boy showed his potential as an artist. At the age of six, he entered Utagawa Kuniho's studio. At this time, Kuniho was making ukiyo-e prints, which were inspired by the samurai and supernatural worlds of Chinese and Japanese cultures, and Guofang also taught him a series of experiences in observing nature, and suggested that instead of pursuing direct expression, he captured "spiritual power".
River Pot Xiaozhai, The Beauty in front of the Mirror (Partial), 1871-1889
But only two years later, Heguo Xiaozhai left. The reason may be that his father was upset about Kuniho's eccentric style and relationship with the shogunate. However, River Pot Xiaozhai still loves to paint, and even picks up the severed head found in the river and takes it home to sketch. To this end, his parents sent him to the more respected Hunting School painter Maemura-dong and Menxia, and Maemura-dongkazu won him a place for him as a student in the Surugadai branch of Kano-dongbai.
After preparing (assisting in the preparation of painting materials) for two years, Kawanabe Besai began to systematically study traditional Chinese and Japanese paintings, including the repeated copying of classic works such as the interpretation of Taoist figures. In his spare time, Kawanabe also experienced the life of Edo citizens, including drinking, rakugo, brothels, and kyogenesis.
In 1849, Kawanabe completed his studies and was adopted as an adopted son by the Akimoto domain painter Hiraisan-san. This means that in the future he will inherit this title. But this was not the case, and in 1852, in the midst of gossip, Xiao Zhai severed ties with the Pingshan family. A few years later, he began his career as an independent artist.
River Pot Xiaozhai, "Fart Wars" (partial), January 1881
Kawanabe Shosai was not the only one to embark on this path, for two centuries before Kawanaku Shosai was born, the Edo shogunate practiced a closed country. But since then, he has witnessed the "Black Ship Incident" in 1853, the end of the Tokugawa shogunate era in 1867, the legalization of Christianity in Japan, and the advent of railways and telegraphs. Japan has been unable to return to the calm of the past.
River Pot Xiaozhai, The Elephant from India, 1863
It was during this blazing era that Kawanabe got married and had her first child, and he coined for himself the artistic name Kyōsai (meaning "parody" of "room") and "kyōga" (satirical manga).
Japan's strict hierarchy provides an irresistible theme for satirical manga, and it is also a risky undertaking. As a result, many Japanese writers and painters of this period became masters of fables, from folklore to the animal world, who used everything in the world to make fun of those in power while maintaining some plausible security boundaries, reminiscent of the ancient Japanese "Birds and Beasts Picture Scroll".
River Pot Xiaozhai, Frog School, early 1870s
Frog Wars (1864) is one of the earliest works of its kind by River Pot Xiaozhai . Frogs armed with water guns and reed spears clash at the edge of the pool. The reader at the time can see from the different coats of arms in the painting that he metaphorically depicts the tokugawa-allied clans fighting against the rulers of choshu domains (a region in southwestern Japan that never fully accepted shogunate rule and was at the forefront of opposition to the shogunate at the time).
In 1868, opposition escalated into a civil war, and the end of the war also marked the end of shogunate politics. Edo became "Tokyo" and the newly restored emperor was named "Meiji". Today, through reading history, we know that the Meiji Restoration created asia's first modern nation-state. But at that time, people had mixed reviews of this, and Heguo Xiaozhai was one of the commentators. It was a time of uncertainty, accompanied by a desire for Western identity and tentative and vigilant about cultural importation, which gave birth to a series of comical images.
River Pot Xiaozhai, "Skeleton Player in Top Hat and Dancing Monster", 1871-1878
In one of his works, a skeleton wearing a Western-style top hat and an ancient samurai sword plays a three-stringed harp, in front of him is a small monster that has been dancing; another shows a Work of a Japanese Western-style school, depicting a teacher with benches, desks, teaching sticks, and suits and leather shoes, no different from the general New School, but this is a "ghost school" (1874), where the descendants of yokai and kappa are being trained. In line with popular concerns at the time, Kawanabe may have thought that the "loss" of the children of field helpers to educational institutions would have an impact on agricultural production (a misconception in the long run); at the same time, the government also extended decrees to the supernatural realm, and "superstitions" were accused of hindering the development of the country and began to be curbed (critics believe that this move is an attack on the Japanese imagination).
River Pot Xiaozhai, Ghost School, 1874
In a world of upheaval, talented painters will never lack inspiration. But in 1870, the arrest of Hakusai made it clear that he was taking the risks. Japan's new leadership is a low-ranking samurai, most of whom are unknown to the public. Although they had the emperor as a puppet, they remained politically and economically weak, fearing that the Western powers would further dilute Japan's autonomy. They look around for glues that might help bind the new nation together — reverence for the imperial family, redesign of "Japanese" values — and they worry that satirical works of literature may dissolve the glue.
In addition to manga, Kawanabe Continues to Create Some More Traditional Works. If he had stayed only in the Hunting School, his work might have appeared in a new standard of art that was being pieced together at the time. Traditional paintings, ceramics, religious statues, and even Kabuki theaters are considered similar to European opera, classic but outdated; the popular art of the Edo period was no longer attractive, although Western collectors seemed to like these works.
The art of Kawanabe Shosai was indeed officially recognized, and in 1881 his hunting style "Crow" won the highest prize at the Tokyo Industrial Exposition. Although the judges praised the "great power" of his paintbrush, he was soon banned from the Expo for his satirical cartoons of "vulgarity, willfulness, and idiocy.".
River Pot Xiaozhai, "Monkeys in the Trees by the River" (right-hand scroll of the diptych), May 1888
In Japan, the line between pop art and elite art has never been fixed. The talent of River Pot Xiaozhai blurs the boundaries even more. Even the simplest of satires, he expressed with astonishing skill. As described by his students at school, he was a kind, demanding master of traditional painting: students began to observe and learn by helping to grind ink, prepare colors, etc., and his children were so good at imitating their father's style that their works were often confused.
The British architect Josiah Conder (designer of the Shikameikan museum in Tokyo) was taught by Kanabe Shosai. In the 1880s, Josiah Kant taught Western architecture in Tokyo, and the two soon became friends. As can be seen from Josiah Kant's description of the teaching style of Kawanabe Shosai, his foundation was based on the training of the Hunting School, combined with the rigorous observation of the world instilled by Utagawa Kuniyoshi from an early age. On a sketch trip to Kamakura, Kant observed that for Xiaozai, "copying meant complete assimilation", and that he could copy an image again and again without reference to the original drawing.
River Pot Xiaozhai, "Tiger Under the Moon, Shadow in the Water", 1871-1889
He's skill earned him a large number of orders, and by the time of his death there were nearly 300 unfinished. His illustrations are popular with readers of all kinds. However, despite his versatility, openness to Western technology, and high hopes for the future, Josiah Kant found in his generation an indelible "old Edo" character. This includes attending calligraphy and painting parties, which require the care of sake and geisha, and making works according to the requirements of guests. A party in 1853 was so lively that Xiaozhai's teacher, Guofang, tore off his clothes as a brush, because the brush was not enough to depict the huge figure he was trying to represent.
River Pot Xiaozhai, Hell Social Flowers, 1871-1889
Before and after his arrest and imprisonment in 1870, Heguo Xiaozhai was one of the most popular guests in these calligraphy and painting gatherings. But in his later years, Heguo Xiaozhai formed a love-hate relationship with the calligraphy and painting party — did he realize that the party was no longer what it used to be? He also doesn't seem to like being encouraged to paint at private parties by international guests. Mortimer Menpes, another of his foreign admirers, recalls a gathering in 1887, just two years after river pots. It was only after a large amount of sake that night that the river pot Xiaozhai was in the mood, and he walked over to the silk, ink, and brush prepared for him:
He knelt there, brush in hand, staring at the silk, looking like a god—he had finished his painting. He stood up proudly, his limbs trembling, threw down his paintbrush, slid the scroll along the floor toward the audience, said, 'This is Xiao Zhai,' and left the room. everyone...... They all realized that this was a master. ”
Note: The exhibition runs until 19 June, and the author, Christopher Harding, is a senior lecturer in Asian history at the University of Edinburgh, and this article is compiled from the website of the Royal Institute of Art in London