The face in this wood-block print by the Japanese artist Katsukawa Shuntei occupies only a very small part of the design, yet it is clearly the focus of the composition. The sharply drawn lines of the face and the intense stare of the bulging eyes rivet our attention on the hero in spite of all the decorated areas of his costume and the writhing tentacles of the serpent that fill most of the design.
• We don't know very much about Katsukawa Shuntei (1770-1820) except that he lived in Edo (the original name of Tokyo), before Japan opened up to the Western world about 150 years ago. Shuntei was best known as the artist for a type of subject, called "musha-e," which depicted battle scenes that were performed in the popular Kabuki theater. Musha-e pictures first appeared over 300 years ago and continue today. Other kinds of subjects for prints were landscapes, wrestlers, beautiful women, birds and flowers.
• Like many artists whose drawings were turned into woodblock prints, Shuntei's work was intended to give pleasure to ordinary men and women rather than the military rulers of Japan. The aristocrats had their own kind of theater called "Noh."
The kind of print seen here was produced for people who attended the Kabuki theater one of the few places of entertainment in Japanese cities at that time. The plots of all the plays were well known and, since prints were inexpensive, people could afford to collect pictures of their favorite actors in their most important scenes.
• Japanese block prints began as drawings produced by artists such as Shuntei. Artists worked in their own studios with students to help them. They sold line drawings on one of 15 standard-sized sheets of paper to publishers whose workers would translate them into color prints. This one is "Oban size," which measures 15″ x 10″.
The publisher employed several kinds of skilled workmen. One of them would copy the original drawing on very thin paper and stick it on a block of wood--usually cherry wood face down. In this way, the drawing appeared in reverse. When finally printed, however, the image would be the right-way round.
A wood engraver would then carefully cut a series of wood blocks that exactly followed the artist's drawing. The parts that were to be black lines were left raised, while the background areas were cut away. The background areas that were to be colored, and perhaps decorated, were cut on separate blocks again with all the parts that were not to be printed being cut away. As many blocks were made as there were colors in the print, plus the one that was printed only in black lines.
• While the artist's original drawing remained the main guideline for the final print, the publisher usually had his own ideas about how the final print should look. For example, publishers often instructed engravers to enrich the amount of decoration to be included and also to decide on how many colors to use. Clothing was usually very decorative, while in this print the serpent's scales are also decorated.
Some engravers specialized in cutting written characters (Japanese lettering) that were needed to explain a print. These characters also had to be cut in reverse so they printed the right-way round when the print was made.
• Printers took over the next step in the process and brushed color onto the first block and pressed moist paper onto it to make a good print. They usually began with the lightest color and then moved onto the darker colors. The other color blocks were then printed with great care being given to making sure that each color was perfectly placed (registered) on top of the lower ones. The final block was the one showing black lines.
At each step the printer carefully rubbed the back of the paper with a pad to make sure that the print was a good one. Also at each step, the printed sheets were hung up to dry before the next color was added.
• Like the engravers before them, printers followed the publisher's instructions about changing the artist's original drawing. For example, they would sometimes wipe away some ink to make some areas paler. In this print, they did the opposite by wiping some darker ink over parts of the print to suggest the idea of the dark cave where the fight took place.
• A high level of skill is required to cut the background of a wood block away and leave only the lines standing up. Since some students may want to try doing this, they should be encouraged to cut a block made of soft linoleum, although linoleum is not very good for the very thin lines seen in this print by Shuntei.
A more practical way of becoming familiar with this kind of Japanese art is to use paint and ink. Students will first need to lightly outline the black lines in pencil. They should use transparent watercolor for the areas printed by each block in the order they seemed to have been printed--usually from light to dark. The paint should be allowed to dry thoroughly between layers of paint, otherwise it will run or smudge. The final step will be to add the black lines using pen and ink or a fine-point marker.
Through this experience, students should begin to understand the design ideas underlying the print. However, they should not frustrate themselves by trying to imitate the precise craftsmanship of wood-block printing, which takes many years to learn.
• In Western art, numbers of stories have been told about heroic battles between brave warriors and evil monsters. The story of St. George and the Dragon is probably the best known, but there are others.
Students may be interested in portraying their own interpretation of such a battle. Before starting on their own paintings, prints or sculptures, however, they should be encouraged to study several artistic interpretations of the subject and read as much as possible about the stories. In this way they will understand the artists work better and be able to choose more exactly the kind of scene they would like to portray.
• For centuries, soldiers around the world have dressed very differently, including soldiers in the United States military. A subject like this one, which portrays a Japanese soldier, may result in students becoming interested in military uniforms of different kinds.
For example, during the Middle Ages in Europe, knights dressed in suits of armor and rode into battle on powerful horses. In contrast, soldiers in ancient Mexico and also in China wore padded uniforms and elaborate helmets to protect themselves. And, until quite recently, European soldiers went into battle wearing brightly colored uniforms in contrast with today, where uniforms are deliberately camouflaged to make them difficult to be seen by an enemy.
This kind of study may lead to a student building a collection of accurate illustrations of different kinds of military uniforms. A knowledge of uniforms would also enable students to produce more authentic battle scenes.
This print may be used to illustrate various art-teaching needs. Potentially useful picture-file categories include: "Wood-block Prints: Japanese"; "Monsters"; "Bravery"; "Storytelling in Art: Japanese"; and "Decoration: Japanese."
For ideas about collecting and retrieving pictures to help in teaching art and other subjects, readers are invited to write to: Guy Hubbard c/o Arts & Activities, 591 Camino de la Reina, Suite 200, San Diego, CA 92108; e-mail: hubbard@indiana.edu.
Katsukawa Shuntei (1770-1820). The Warrior Egara no Heita Battling with the Giant Serpent, late 18th-early 19th century. Print; Oban size Courtesy Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Great Britain.
This print depicts an event that took place during a time when Japan was in the middle of civil wars that eventually resulted in one victorious clan controlling the whole of the country. Before that time, the country had been divided into smaller clans or chiefdoms that were constantly at war with each other. Egara no Heita, who appears in this print, was a semi-legendary warrior who is supposed to have engaged in numbers of adventures during his short life. He was killed in a battle in the year 1213, when he was 31 years old.
The event shown here occurred in 1203, when he was only 21 years of age. Egara no Heita was hunting with a fellow soldier when he killed an enormous serpent that lived deep in a mountain cave. Hundreds of years later a play was written about this legend and it became very popular. Because the play was well known, the print reproduced here would have been instantly recognized by people who enjoyed Kabuki theater.
This print is like many other Japanese theater prints, which show an actor at the most important moment in the play. The actor-warrior has swung his long sword over his head in readiness to strike the serpent. Even though the hero's face is quite small, it has a ferocious expression. It is made all the more noticeable by being very pale and consisting of some of the most finely drawn lines in the print.
The bulging eyes, the forward-jutting chin, and the grimly determined mouth all dramatize the high level of concentration that would have been required to destroy such a mighty serpent. The face is made even more noticeable by the fringed beard and the black hair that frames it. The face is further framed by some of the serpent's coils. The warrior is identified by the angular lines of the richly decorated traditional military costume and the aggressive pose as he stands astride the serpent about to deliver the fatal blow.
In striking contrast to the warrior, the serpent overflows the rest of the print with its mighty coils that could easily crush the warrior. Only in the serpent do curved lines dominate, although a portion of the upper part of its body is decorated with scaly patterns that would normally camouflage it. Flickering flames shoot out of its mouth to further emphasize how dangerous it is. The serpent's eye glares evilly at the warrior as though trying to hypnotize him, but the serpent is no match for the power and determination visible in the warrior's face.
A quality in this print that separates it from most other Japanese prints--not only actor prints--is its darkness. Most Japanese prints use fairly bright colors and, except for the black outlines, the colors are often quite pale. In addition, most actor prints show the face of the actor filling most of the print, whereas in this one the warrior's head occupies only a small part of the composition.
The artistic problems in this print are different from most actor prints, however. The action is taking place in a dark cave and the warrior is fighting a serpent that is many times larger than he is. The warrior and the serpent both have to be included for people to know which play is being illustrated, while sweeping dark lines are needed to communicate the idea of the darkness of the cave.
Just as people today collect photographs of their favorite movie actors or rock stars, Japanese theatergoers collect prints of their favorite actors in plays they enjoy most. Actors shown in prints are usually dressed in ways that are immediately recognizable while the expressions on actors' faces are equally well known. It is quite common for actors to make their eyes squint and bulge at important places in the drama.
Unlike famous stage and screen actors in the West, Kabuki actors were all men--including those who played the parts of women. And, instead of the fame of an actor dying with him, in Japan it was continued with later generations from the same family of actors. The result was that some families of actors continued for many generations all with the same name, the only distinction being the number after the name, such as Ichikawa Danjuro IX. As many as 17 generations of one acting family have been recorded.
The stories in Kabuki plays were usually not as important as the actors who played the leading parts. And, unlike most modern Western movies or stage plays where actors behave as they would in everyday life, Kabuki theater was more like dancing, with singers chanting the story as it unfolded. A small orchestra was also quite common, although it was used more for sound effects than playing tunes. The plays, themselves, were usually in single acts and only about 30 minutes long. Moreover, they didn't have scripts that actors had to follow exactly.
Familiar Kabuki subjects included ones like the act of bravery shown here, as well as revenge and sacrifice and also murder and suicide. But, once again, instead of trying to be realistic the plays were more like a kind of abstract art. For example, events on stage slowed down like a slow-motion movie in parts so audiences would know that the action--like this fight with a serpent-was happening in a dark place. Animals, such as the serpent in this play, were usually played by several men moving beneath a cover resembling the skin or coat of the particular creature.
The stage filled much of the interior space of the theater, with runways and trapdoors to allow actors several ways of entering and exiting. The main stage area was near the center of the theater and was often built to revolve. In this way, it was easier to show several events happening in different places without having to change scenery.
Covers would be laid on the stage floor to tell an audience about the place where the action was occurring, such as a white covering for snow, blue for water and gray for earth. Moreover, while the play unfolded, stagehands dressed in black (telling the audience that they were invisible) would add and remove furniture and similar objects.
PHOTO (COLOR): Katsukawa Shuntei (1770-1820). The Warrior Egara no Heita Battling with the Giant Serpent, late 18th-early 19th century. Print; Oban size. Courtesy Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Great Britain. ©Victoria & Albert Museum, London/Art Resource, N.Y.
By Guy Hubbard
