Collection: Kawanabe Kyosai Prints

Kawanabe Kyōsai prints: the Demon of Painting

Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831–1889) was the most irreverent artist of Meiji Japan. As a child he studied with the ukiyo-e master Utagawa Kuniyoshi, then trained in the classical Kanō school, before mixing both traditions with folklore, Buddhism and satire. Nicknamed the “Demon of Painting”, he was arrested in 1870 for his political caricatures, and his humorous drawings are often cited among the ancestors of manga.

Frog processions and animal parades

Kyōsai’s animals behave like people, and that is the joke. In Frog Procession, frogs march with lanterns and food; in Animals Dancing around a Frog Deity, a whole bestiary celebrates a comic ritual; and the Cat Parade mocks the solemn processions of his time. Behind the fun lies a sharp satire of Meiji society.

Kyōsai’s cats

Kyōsai drew cats with as much mischief as his master Kuniyoshi: a Cat Catching a Frog, a Cat with a Mouse and the monstrous Giant Cat, a bakeneko from Japanese ghost stories. More in our Japanese cat prints.

Demons, hell and the supernatural

Kyōsai painted the Buddhist hells with dark humour. Jigoku Dayū, the Hell Courtesan, wears a robe covered with scenes of the underworld; in the Ōtsu-e of an Oni Reciting Buddhist Prayers, a demon pretends to be a pious monk; and The Long-Tailed Demon mixes spirits, men and foxes.

Elephants and autumn fantasies

Kyōsai’s curiosity had no limits: Famous Elephants Imported from India at Play records the excitement of exotic animals shown in Japan, and Autumn Fantasy gathers animals, insects and fruit in a joyful still life.

Hanging a Kyōsai print

Kyōsai’s crowded, humorous scenes are perfect conversation pieces for a hallway, a study or a dining room. His demons and hell scenes call for a black frame; his animal processions look great in natural wood.

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