Kawahara Keiga (attributed to),
Genre scenes,
paintings
Japan
Edo period, about AD
1800-25
In a Western-influenced
style
These paintings come from a group of seventeen
Japanese works in an unusual Western-influenced style. They were
probably intended for export. Although the works are unsigned, this
particular style is known only in the works of Kawahara Keiga
(1786-after 1859). He had access to Europeans living on the
artificial island of Deshima in Nagasaki harbour, and in the 1820s
was commissioned by the collector Philip Franz von Siebold and
others to execute many Japanese scenes. The paintings feature
domestic and street scenes including sumō wrestlers, a priest, many
children, and (unusually)
beggars.
One example shows
the upstairs room of a brothel. A courtesan stands in the
foreground, wearing a red outer kimono, an
obi (sash) with a
chrysanthemum design and a blue robe over these. The bright colours
of her clothing stand out in contrast against the pale colours of
the walls and floor. Both the careful, geometrical perspective of
the room and the precise description of the figures show the
influence of Western technique, and suggest a high degree of
contact with
foreigners.
The paintings
come from a scrapbook assembled by Lady Henrietta Jane Seymour
(1809-90), daughter of the 11th Duke of Somerset. It also contains
nine south Indian miniatures and nineteen European works (fashion
and topographical prints, amateur sketches,
etc.).