Image

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Attributed to Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川 国芳

Preliminary sketch from an album of drawings, ca. 1840 -1860

Description

Maker

Title

Preliminary sketch from an album of drawings

Year

ca. 1840 -1860

Medium

Brush and ink on Japanese paper laid down in an album of reused paper

Materials/Techniques

Materials

Supports

Dimensions

19.1 x 27.3 x 1.3 cm (7 1/2 x 10 3/4 x 1/2 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

ink on paper | or | ink and slight color on paper

Place

Japan

Type

Credit

Museum Collection

Object Number

49.437

Projects & Publications

Publications

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Drawing the Line

March 30 - June 10, 2001

This preparatory drawing of a samurai warrior conveys Kuniyoshi's deft handling of the brush. The lines feel confident and are swiftly executed, emphasizing the power and energy of the figure. This exciting drawing reveals much evidence of the artist's thinking. Kuniyoshi seems to have begun with the sheet oriented differently; note the head between the warrior's knees. Dissatisfied, he turned the sheet upside-down and began again. The conclusive decision for the head was drawn on a small piece of transparent Japanese tissue attached to the final drawing. When folded back, an earlier, rougher design is revealed. The geometric drawing underneath the samurai figure is simply what happened to be on the reused sheet used to make the album.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Preliminary sketch from an album of drawings with the accession number of 49.437. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.