A Brothel Of Sparrows

I'm not sure what the real collective name is for the birds, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't this in the 1800s, whatever the following artist may have believed. Roz and Michael kindly took Keiko and me to The Royal Academy (between Green Park and Piccadilly Circus) for a Japanese artist's exhibition.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) was one of the great woodblock print and painters, alongside the more famous Hokusai and Hiroshige (the former being the creator of my favourite "Great Wave at Kamakura" print). However, whilst these two stuck to the more traditional nature and portrait types, Kuniyoshi took the alternative route.

Some of his work is pretty naturalistic and doesn't seem out of place but the others are so abstract and crazy and ahead of his time, such as this montage of humans:


The artist was famous for his triptych style - the use of three woodblocks to create one canvas. I don't think this has the religious sentiment that triptychs found in churches (e.g. the Holy Trinity) were purposely designed for. Instead, because the woodblocks were constrained by size, Kuniyoshi used three at a time to create a larger scene. Usually he featured a central character or object on each block with a grand design linking them together. Most of the time, they even matched up perfectly - a pretty incredible feat considering the intricacy of carving. Also consider that thin lines, such as hair would've been individual carvings.


This is one of my favourites for its sheer bravery; by omitting everything from the middle block entirely, it shows the waterfall's real scale.


The triptych also allowed to show the size of this whale:


Kuniyoshi was also fond of cats and, although the exhibition didn't feature many, there are a lot on the web. One that was hung on the wall was amusingly entitled "Ouch, That Hurts".


A really incredible exhibition, especially considering that only 150 of his 100s of prints were shown. I have no idea - except for the definite need for assistants - how he was able to achieve so many.

One thing's for sure, he must've had some seriously messed up nightmares!


(By the way, I can't find "A Brothel of Sparrows" online but I'll keep looking.)