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Lot Essay
published:
Asano Shugo et al., eds. Ukiyo-eshi (Ukiyo-e painters), vol. 2 of Genshoku ukiyo-e dai hyakka jiten (Great encyclopedia of ukiyo-e), edited by the Editorial Committee of the Ukiyo-e Encyclopedia (Tokyo: Taishukan, 1982), pl. 459.
Azabu Museum of Art, and Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, eds., Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e meihin ten: Azabu bijutsukan shozo/Ukiyo-e Painting Masterpieces in the Collection of the Azabu Museum of Art, introduction by Kobayashi Tadashi, exh. cat. (Tokyo: Azabu Museum of Art; Osaka: Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, 1988), pl. 84.
Azabu Museum of Arts and Crafts, and Japan Institute of Arts and Crafts, eds., Edo no fashon, kaikan kinen ten, Part 1: Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e ni miru onnatachi no yosooi/"Fashion of Edo": Women's dress in Ukiyo-e Paintings, exh. cat. (Tokyo: Azabu Museum of Arts and Crafts, 1989), pl. 67.
Gakyojin Katsushika Hokusai ten (Exhibition of the man mad about painting, Katsushika Hokusai), edited by Saneki Shimbunsha, exh. cat. (Osaka: Sankei Shimbunsha, 1983), no. 5.
Kobayashi Tadashi, ed., Azabu bijutsu kogeikan (Azabu Museum of Arts and Crafts), vol. 6 of Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e taikan (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1995), pl. 66.
Kyoto Imperial Museum, ed., Tokubetsu tenran: Ukiyo-e shuei (Special exhibition: Collection of ukiyo-e), exh. cat. (Kyoto: Benrido, 1923), nn.
Nagata Seiji, "Katsushikaha monjinroku" (Record of students of the Katsushika school), Ukiyo-e geijutsu/Ukiyo-e Art 68 (1980), cover illustr.
Narazaki Muneshige, Hokusai, vol. 7 of Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e, edited by Narazaki Muneshige (Tokyo: Shueisha, 1982), pl. 52.
Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e ten: Shomin geijutsu no hana (Exhibition of ukiyo-e painting: The flower of the arts of the common people), introduction by Yamaguchi Keizaburo, exh. cat. (Chiba: Chiba Prefectural Museum, 1981), pl. 45.
Shibui Kiyoshi, ed., Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e bijinga shusei/Ukiyo-e Paintings of Beauties in Japanese Collections, vol. 2 (Tokyo: Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1983), pl. 51.
Ukiyo-e ni egakareta Chugoku ten (Exhibition of China as depicted in ukiyo-e, exh. cat. (Tokyo: Ota Memorial Museum, 1982), no. 15.
Yoshida Teruji, Ranjuku jidai 4 (The period of maturity, 4), vol. 9 of Ukiyo-e taisei (Tokyo: Toho Shoin, 1931), no. 22.
In common parlance prostitutes were sometimes referred to as daruma, referring to the type of leg-less doll shaped like the Zen master Bodhidharma in meditation. The slang term apparently derived from the observation that prostitutes would bounce up quickly after lying down (with a client) just like a roly-poly daruma doll.
Here Hokuun, a pupil of Hokusai, has rendered Bodhidharma entirely in red ink in brusque Zen-style brushwork. In contrast, the robes and facial features of the courtesan were carefully delineated in a scrupulous manner associated with deluxe ukiyo-e commissions.
The bawdy five-line poem signed Unkin sekijo gesaku (playfully composed at a party by Unkin), reveals the Zen master's innermost thoughts:
kimi o omou Meditating on nothing
hoka ni ichimotsu mo other than you,
naki ware o I profoundly regret
shiri kusaru koso that I've lost my prick
urami narikeru and my ass really stinks.
Bodhidharma, appearing completely nonplussed, stares directly at viewer--hoping for sympathy, we may suppose. According to legend Bodhidharma sat in meditation for nine years facing the wall of a cave, during which time he lost his legs. The poet implies that he lost his ichimotsu (common slang for penis) in the process.
Asano Shugo et al., eds. Ukiyo-eshi (Ukiyo-e painters), vol. 2 of Genshoku ukiyo-e dai hyakka jiten (Great encyclopedia of ukiyo-e), edited by the Editorial Committee of the Ukiyo-e Encyclopedia (Tokyo: Taishukan, 1982), pl. 459.
Azabu Museum of Art, and Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, eds., Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e meihin ten: Azabu bijutsukan shozo/Ukiyo-e Painting Masterpieces in the Collection of the Azabu Museum of Art, introduction by Kobayashi Tadashi, exh. cat. (Tokyo: Azabu Museum of Art; Osaka: Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, 1988), pl. 84.
Azabu Museum of Arts and Crafts, and Japan Institute of Arts and Crafts, eds., Edo no fashon, kaikan kinen ten, Part 1: Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e ni miru onnatachi no yosooi/"Fashion of Edo": Women's dress in Ukiyo-e Paintings, exh. cat. (Tokyo: Azabu Museum of Arts and Crafts, 1989), pl. 67.
Gakyojin Katsushika Hokusai ten (Exhibition of the man mad about painting, Katsushika Hokusai), edited by Saneki Shimbunsha, exh. cat. (Osaka: Sankei Shimbunsha, 1983), no. 5.
Kobayashi Tadashi, ed., Azabu bijutsu kogeikan (Azabu Museum of Arts and Crafts), vol. 6 of Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e taikan (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1995), pl. 66.
Kyoto Imperial Museum, ed., Tokubetsu tenran: Ukiyo-e shuei (Special exhibition: Collection of ukiyo-e), exh. cat. (Kyoto: Benrido, 1923), nn.
Nagata Seiji, "Katsushikaha monjinroku" (Record of students of the Katsushika school), Ukiyo-e geijutsu/Ukiyo-e Art 68 (1980), cover illustr.
Narazaki Muneshige, Hokusai, vol. 7 of Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e, edited by Narazaki Muneshige (Tokyo: Shueisha, 1982), pl. 52.
Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e ten: Shomin geijutsu no hana (Exhibition of ukiyo-e painting: The flower of the arts of the common people), introduction by Yamaguchi Keizaburo, exh. cat. (Chiba: Chiba Prefectural Museum, 1981), pl. 45.
Shibui Kiyoshi, ed., Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e bijinga shusei/Ukiyo-e Paintings of Beauties in Japanese Collections, vol. 2 (Tokyo: Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1983), pl. 51.
Ukiyo-e ni egakareta Chugoku ten (Exhibition of China as depicted in ukiyo-e, exh. cat. (Tokyo: Ota Memorial Museum, 1982), no. 15.
Yoshida Teruji, Ranjuku jidai 4 (The period of maturity, 4), vol. 9 of Ukiyo-e taisei (Tokyo: Toho Shoin, 1931), no. 22.
In common parlance prostitutes were sometimes referred to as daruma, referring to the type of leg-less doll shaped like the Zen master Bodhidharma in meditation. The slang term apparently derived from the observation that prostitutes would bounce up quickly after lying down (with a client) just like a roly-poly daruma doll.
Here Hokuun, a pupil of Hokusai, has rendered Bodhidharma entirely in red ink in brusque Zen-style brushwork. In contrast, the robes and facial features of the courtesan were carefully delineated in a scrupulous manner associated with deluxe ukiyo-e commissions.
The bawdy five-line poem signed Unkin sekijo gesaku (playfully composed at a party by Unkin), reveals the Zen master's innermost thoughts:
kimi o omou Meditating on nothing
hoka ni ichimotsu mo other than you,
naki ware o I profoundly regret
shiri kusaru koso that I've lost my prick
urami narikeru and my ass really stinks.
Bodhidharma, appearing completely nonplussed, stares directly at viewer--hoping for sympathy, we may suppose. According to legend Bodhidharma sat in meditation for nine years facing the wall of a cave, during which time he lost his legs. The poet implies that he lost his ichimotsu (common slang for penis) in the process.