Live Auction 19824Japanese and Korean Art
KITAGAWA UTAMARO (1754-1806)
Lot 121

KITAGAWA UTAMARO (1754-1806)

Act XI, beauties and Utamaro

Closed16 March 2021

Price Realised

USD 12,500

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KITAGAWA UTAMARO (1754-1806)
Act XI, beauties and Utamaro
Woodblock print, left sheet of a diptych, from the series Komei bijin mitate Chushingura junima tsuzuki (The Chushingura drama parodied by famous beauties), published by Omiya Gonkuro
Vertical oban: 14 ¾ x 9 ¾ in. (37.5 x 24.8 cm.)

Henrii Vever (1854-1943), Paris, sold Sotheby's London, Highly Important Japanese Prints, Illusted Books and Drawings from the Henri Vever Collection: Part I, 26 MArch 1974, lot 188.

Specialist note

The scene parodies Act XI, "The Night attack," of the popular drama "Treasury of loyal retainers." Utamaro portrays himself, being offered a large cup of sake, impersonating Moronao, the villain who is killed in this act. For another impression in the British Museum, London see Narazaki Muneshige and Yamaguchi Keizaburo, Daiei hakubutsukan/The British Museum...., vol. 11 of Ukiyo-e shuka (Tokyo: Shogakukan, 1979), pl. 186 (diptych). Other diptychs are in The Art Institute of Chicago and the Tokyo National Museum.