Open Magazine-posted 29 May 2009

Last Chance to See : Kuniyoshi
29th May 2009, Sophie Khan

Many call Utagawa Kuniyoshi ‘one of the godfathers of manga comic’ whilst others including the owner, Arthur R.Miller, of this collection of prints point to the influence his work has had on Impressionists such as Monet, Van Gough and Toulouse-Lautrec.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi Asahina Saburô Yoshihide wrestles with two crocodiles at Kotsubo Beach, Kamakura, 1849

But unlike these artists from the late nineteenth century, Kuniyoshi’s art still looks modern and with its accessible, comic-style allure easily relates to the superheroes and fantasy creatures of today.Utagawa Kuniyoshi was born in 1747 into a thriving merchant class family and along with his contemporaries of the ukiyo-e or ‘picture of the floating world’ school dominated nineteenth century printmaking in Japan. He designed around 10,000 prints and became an accomplished master of the wood block colour producing vibrant and imaginative images. Although the exhibition only displays around a 150 prints from Arthur R. Miller’s donated collection, there is a full representation of the themes associated with his work with the exhibition is divided into six sections. The exhibition traces Kuniyoshi’s career from when it took off in the late 1820s with a series of designs he made based on the Chinese novel The Water Margin, tales of Chinese outlaws who live in Liangshan marsh, from where they attacked other bands of brigands, fighting against injustice. The print of The Chinese Warrior Zhang Shun Smashes a Water Gate is a good example of how Kuniyoshi, through his masterful storytelling, kept alive the great myths and legends of the past and constituted the most important part of his artistic output. Few artists of any period can match Kuniyoshi’s energy and immediacy and this can also be seen in his print of Sakata Kaido-maru Wrestles with a Giant Carp. The legendary Japanese hero is often depicted as a child with the image emphasising the boy’s strength. The symbolism is still used in modern-day Japan to encourage young sons to be courageous in overcoming life’s difficulties. Kuniyoshi's relatively small quantity of landscapes from the early 1830s are also regarded as amongst some of the finest of the era. He transformed the genre of landscape prints by incorporating European-style works of the Dutch school and prints such as Fishermen at Teppozu are an example of his use of European elements to produce a memorable and unique design.On a different level altogether are the artist's comic prints known as the ‘crazy pictures’. These are some of the most comical images in Japanese art and particularly appealing are the many designs featuring animals. The most famous of these is the print of Octopus Games, a cartoon-style image of octopi impersonating humans in the midst of their titular games.Kuniyoshi also developed the ‘riddle picture’ to evade censorship and produced striking images as a satirical commentary on those in power into which audiences were invited to read their own meaning. The most critical of the authorities in the famous Earth Spider triptych of 1843 and can be seen as one of Japan’s first political cartoons. The print illustrates a story from the eleventh century. The sick warrior hero rests on his bed watched over by four bodyguards. Unseen by them, the evil Earth Spider approaches him and conjures up demons to disturb his sleep. The different demons are identified as jobs and categories affected by the reforms and the sick warrior as the weak shogun leader of the time. Although the oppressive rule of the Shoguns ended with the arrival of the American fleet in 1854, the fascination with Kuniyoshi’s visionary art continued to inspire many across the academic, professional and creative worlds and led to a 30-year obsession by Miller, an American lawyer to collect his work. The exhibition is gripping from the moment you walk into the gallery. The extraordinary use of colour gives the prints a mystical power which draws you in and manipulates your mind into exploring every last detail of the image before moving on to the next. Kuniyoshi at the Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BD, until 7 June 2009.