- Museum number
- 1969,0414,0.1
- Description
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Painting, hanging scroll. Susano-o no Mikoto subduing the dragon Yamata no Orochi, seen within the raging sea on a storm-swept rocky coast. Ink and colour on silk. Signed and sealed.
- Production date
- 1887 (according to Josiah Conder)
- Dimensions
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Height: 184 centimetres (mount)
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Height: 100.40 centimetres
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Width: 44 centimetres (mount)
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Width: 29.700 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
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Reproduced in 'Meiji: Splendeurs du Japon impérial' (Musée national des arts asiatiques - Guimet, 2018), p.126.
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Smith et al 1990
Susano'o no Mikoto was the younger brother of the sun goddess Amaterasu Omikami. After his obnoxious behaviour had driven his sister to hide in a cave, plunging the world into darkness, Susano'o was banished from the High Celestial Plane to the Izumo region in western Japan. Here he intoxicated and then slew an eight-headed, eight-tailed serpent ('yamata no orochi') and rescued Princess Kushinada. In the tail of the serpent he discovered the sword which became one of the three regalia of the Imperial family. Kyosai appears to have modified the standard version of the story by showing the snake as a dragon coming up out of a raging sea on a storm-swept rocky coast, and by having Susano'o brandish his sword before the monster has been pacified with drink.
Though trained in the academic Kano school, Kyosai was a master of many painting styles, ranging from highly finished 'serious' exhibition pieces like this one to wild, satirical sketches dashed off impromptu under the influence of sake. Here the composition is cleverly organised so the viewer focuses first on the brightly coloured figure of Susano'o, before noticing the serpent lurking in the foaming waves beneath.
The painting was formerly in the collection of Josiah Conder, the English architect working in Japan in the 1880s, who was a pupil, patron and biographer of Kyosai.
FURTHER READING
Conder, Josiah, 'Paintings and Studies by Kawanabe Kyosai', Tokyo, 1911.
See also:
Smith, Lawrence, "Kyutoryu o taiji suru Susano'o no Mikoto", 'Kyosai' 36 (September), 2, 1988, frontispiece.
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Hizo Nihon bijutsu taikan Vol 3
An orthodox historical painting by the same artist as the preceding picture, this work is based on a myth recorded in the 'Kojiki' and 'Nihon shoki'. It shows the dramatic moment at which the serpent Yamata-no-Orochi (here shown as an orthodox dragon), amidst a fierce rainstorm, is about to emerge from the waters of the Hikawa river, while the god, Susanoo stands with his feet planted aggressively apart, holding aloft the sword with which he is about to smite the monster. The great waves, done with the transparent feeling of the Shijo style, give the work a grand sense of movement and the depiction of the dragon under the water is superb. The work is an example of Kyosai's response to the fashion, in the early Meiji period, for pictures on historical or legendary subjects.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
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Exhibited:
2008 8 Apr- 11 May Kyoto National Museum, Japan; Kyosai
2012 Apr - Jul, France, Musee du Quai Branly, 'Maitres du Desordre'
2012 Jul-Dec, Kunst Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik, Bonn, Germany, 'Maitres du Desordre'
2018-2019 17 Oct -19 Jan, Paris, Musée Guimet, Meiji: Splendeurs du Japon imperial
2022 April - October, BM Mitsubishi Corporation Japanese Galleries
- Associated titles
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Associated Title: Kojiki 古事記
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Associated Title: Nihon shoki 日本書紀
- Acquisition date
- 1969
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1969,0414,0.1
- Additional IDs
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Asia painting number: Jap.Ptg.Add.397 (Japanese Painting Additional Number)