UTAGAWA HOSAI: JIGOKU DAYU (HELL COURTESAN)

拍品描述

UTAGAWA HOSAI: JIGOKU DAYU (HELL COURTESAN) By Utagawa Hosai, signed Hosai hitsu and seal Seisei Kisen Japan, Meiji period (1868-1912) Ink, watercolors, and gouache on silk. Mounted as a hanging scroll within a silk brocade frame with ivory jikusaki (roller ends). Finely painted, the composition depicts Jigoku Dayu, the legendary courtesan, shown standing in a voluminous robe densely decorated with scenes of the Buddhist underworld. At its center appears Emma-o, his stern, bearded visage emerging from swirling folds of drapery that evoke the very fabric of hell. Across the garment unfolds a vivid and unsettling panorama: writhing sinners are seized by horned oni, cast into flames, or dragged across jagged terrain. Flaming wheels turn, limbs contort, and anguished figures cry out amid a landscape of fire and shadow. The robe functions as a pictorial map of damnation, each vignette illustrating torment and karmic retribution, rendered with dynamic, almost chaotic energy that contrasts sharply with Enma’s implacable, judging presence. Inscriptions: To the bottom-left, signed 芳斎筆 Hosai hitsu [Painted by Hosai] and sealed 静々鬼僊 Seisei Kisen [quiet-quiet oni immortal]. The wood tomobako inscribed 芳斎筆、浮世繪、地獄太夫ノ圖、壹幅 Hosai hitsu, ukiyoe, Jigoku Dayu no zu, ippuku [Ukiyo-e painting of Jigoku Dayu, one scroll, painted by Hosai]. Image SIZE 52.5 x 129.5 cm, SIZE incl. mounting 66.5 x 216 cm With an inscribed wood tomobako. Important notice: Please note that we will need to remove the ivory roller ends before shipping / handing over the item. The roller ends are not part of this offer. Jigoku Dayu (“Hell Courtesan”) is a subject rooted in late Edo-period narrative and theatrical culture. The theme derives from the kabuki play Jigoku Ikkyu banashi (The Story of Ikkyu and Hell), first performed in 1865 and adapted from earlier comic literature. The Zen monk Ikkyu Sojun (1394–1481), renowned for his unconventional character, encounters the courtesan Jigoku, whose name evokes the torments of the underworld. In a moment of revelation, the pleasures of the brothel dissolve into a vision of decay and death, exposing the transience underlying worldly appearances. Through this encounter, Jigoku attains insight into the impermanence of existence. Hosai’s interpretation emphasizes this tension: the composed elegance of the figure contrasts with the violent imagery that envelops her, transforming the robe into a didactic field of Buddhist imagery. The work operates simultaneously as a theatrical subject and a meditation on mortality and karmic consequence. Utagawa Hosai was a pupil of Goseda Horyu (also known as Utagawa Horyu), himself a student of Utagawa Kuniyoshi, from whom Hosai inherited the character 芳 (ho / yoshi). Active in Yokohama during the Meiji period, Hosai worked within the Utagawa school tradition, adapting its dynamic narrative style to painting formats. Auction comparison: Compare a closely related scroll painting depicting the same subject by Utagawa Kunisada II, also Utagawa school, at Christie’s, Aesthetic Intuition: Collection Japanese Art in Post-War London, 11 November 2015, London, lot 91 (sold for GBP 62,500 or approx. EUR 101,800 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).

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