Katsushika Hokusai

A Hero with a Prisoner: Chugi Suikoden Ehon (Portraits of Suikoden Heroes)

Katsushika Hokusai's original Japanese woodcut, A Hero with a Prisoner was published and printed by Hanabusaya Heikichi. Apart from being a superb composition, A Hero with a Prisoner is a pivotal work of art. It hails from the 1829 novel, Chugi Suikoden Ehon ("Portraits of Suikoden Heroes"), by Takai Ranzan. Ranzan was the great expert and delineator of Chinese myth and legend, and the Chinese Suikoden -- the so called 'Dog Heroes -- formed a cornerstone of Chinese folklore. Once these important writings of Ranzan and woodcuts of Hokusai were introduced into Japanese culture they helped to shape both the development and mystique of the warrior classes of Japan, such as the Ronin and the Samurai. A Hero with a Prisoner is a striking, original example of the famous art created by the Japanese artist, Katsushika Hokusai.

A Hero with a Prisoner: Chugi Suikoden Ehon (Portraits of Suikoden Heroes)

View other original Japanese woodcuts by Hokusai.

Katsushika Hokusai (Tokyo (Edo), Japan, 1760 - 1849)
#	Image	Title & Artist	Medium	Date	Publisher	Source	-
01.-		A Hero with a Prisoner (Portraits of Suikoden Heroes) by Katsushika Hokusai	Original Japanese Woodcut	1829	Hanabusaya Heikichi	Chugi Suikoden Ehon (Portraits of Suikoden Heroes)
02.-		Gekka no Fuji (Fuji under the Moon) by Katsushika Hokusai	Original Japanese Woodcut (Diptych)	1834 & 1835 (Tohekido Edition: 1852)	Tohekido	Fugaku hyakkei (One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji)
03.-		Haichu No Fuji (Fuji in a Wine Cup) by Katsushika Hokusai	Original Japanese Woodcut	1834 & 1835 (Tohekido Edition: 1852)	Tohekido	Fugaku hyakkei (One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji)
04.-		Konya'cho no Fuji (Fuji of the Dyers' Quarter) by Katsushika Hokusai	Original Japanese Woodcut	1834 & 1835 (Tohekido Edition: 1852)	Tohekido	Fugaku hyakkei (One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji)
05.-		Shashin no Fuji (Drawing Fuji from Life) by Katsushika Hokusai	Original Japanese Woodcut	1834 & 1835 (Tohekido Edition: 1852)	Tohekido	Fugaku hyakkei (One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji)	Sold
06.-		Sochu No Fuji (Fuji in a Window) by Katsushika Hokusai	Original Japanese Woodcut	1834 & 1835 (Tohekido Edition: 1852)	Tohekido	Fugaku hyakkei (One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji)
07.-		Suberi (Sliding Down) by Katsushika Hokusai	Original Japanese Woodcut	1834 & 1835 (Tohekido Edition, c. 1847)	Tohekido	Fugaku hyakkei (One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji)	Sold
08.-		Surprise Attack (Portraits of Suikoden Heroes) by Katsushika Hokusai	Original Japanese Woodcut (Diptych)	1829	Hanabusaya Heikichi	Fugaku hyakkei (One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji)
09.-		Two Heroes (Portraits of Suikoden Heroes) by Katsushika Hokusai	Original Japanese Woodcut	1829	Hanabusaya Heikichi	Chugi Suikoden Ehon (Portraits of Suikoden Heroes)	Sold
10.-		Uneri Fuji (Fuji on the Swell) by Katsushika Hokusai	Original Japanese Woodcut (Diptych)	1834 & 1835 (Tohekido Edition: 1852)	Tohekido	Fugaku hyakkei (One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji)
11.-		Yuki no ashita no Fuji (Fuji the Day after Snow) by Katsushika Hokusai	Original Japanese Woodcut (Diptych)	1834 & 1835 (Tohekido Edition: 1852)	Tohekido	Fugaku hyakkei (One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji)

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Title:	A Hero with a Prisoner: Chugi Suikoden Ehon (Portraits of Suikoden Heroes)
Artist:	Hokusai, Katsushika (Tokyo (Edo), Japan, 1760 - 1849)
Date:	1829
Medium:	Original Japanese Woodcut
Publisher:	Hanabusaya Heikichi
Printer:	Hanabusaya Heikichi
Note:	Katsushika Hokusai: The most influential Japanese master of landscapes and figure studies, Katsushika Hokusai created many masterpieces throughout his long and productive life. Studying under Shunsho, Hokusai's earliest art was devoted to competent actor prints and figure studies in the style of his master. Then, in the first decade of the nineteenth century, Hokusai's tireless studies led him to examine both Western art and Chinese paintings and prints. He thus broke from the standard 'Ukiyo-e' style to forge a path for his own unique genius. This would lead him to some of the greatest artistic examinations of the relationship between man and nature in the history of art, such as, Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji (1831) and Fugaku hyakkei (One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji) (1834-1835).
	Throughout his career Hokusai devoted much of talents to the art of the book. He became in fact close friends with some of Japan's most widely read novelists, poets and translators, such as Takizawa Bakin, Emba and Takai Ranzan. Hokusai's illustrative art is vital to an understanding of his superb genius. One authority writes, "The great strength of Hokusai's illustrations to these popular novels is the artist's enormous imagination and vision. His designs are really of great compositional vitality, almost unparalleled at the time. His heroes not only were an example to later followers; the strong emphasis on interaction between the figures, combined with visionary and balanced compositions must have been appreciated." * These words clearly apply to this brilliant, original woodcut.
	A Hero with a Prisoner hails from the 1829 novel, Chugi Suikoden Ehon ("Portraits of Suikoden Heroes"), by Takai Ranzan. Ranzan was the great expert and delineator of Chinese myth and legend, and the Chinese Suikoden -- the so called 'Dog Heroes -- formed a cornerstone of Chinese folklore. Once these important writings of Ranzan and woodcuts of Hokusai were introduced into Japanese culture they helped to shape both the development and mystique of the warrior classes of Japan, such as the Ronin and the Samurai.
	Chugi Suikoden Ehon proved to be very popular and in the following years Ranzan and Hokusai collaborated on other projects such as the Chinese T'ang poems, Toshisen Ehon (1833) and Ehon Chukyo (1834). As well, Hokusai's heroic art from this period did not escape the attention of his great Utagawa school rival, Kuniyoshi (Japan, 1797-1861). The two artists entered into open competition with each other and Kuniyoshi launched a fine series of oban sized woodcuts of the Chinese heroes. It's amazing to contemplate that these two giants of nineteenth century Japanese art thus challenged each other to create even greater works of woodcut art.
Raisonne:	Richard Lane, Images from the Floating World: The Japanese Print, Dorset Press, New York, 1982, p. 275. Catalogue #219.
Reference:	* Matti Forrer, Hokusai, Rizzoli, New York, 1988, p. 141 and pp. 258 & 259.
Source:	Chugi Suikoden Ehon "Portraits of The Suikoden Heroes"
Size:	7 1/8 X 5 Small Chuban (Sizes in inches are approximate, height preceding width of plate-mark or image.)
	Framed and Matted with 100% Archival Materials
	View Framed Image:

Buy Now	Price: $585.00 US
Condition:	Printed on early nineteenth century Japanese mulberry (rice) paper and with full margins as published by Heikichi in 1829 in Chugi Suikoden Ehon. A fine, early impression and in excellent condition throughout. This original woodcut is a prime example of the superb art of Hokusai, one of Japan's greatest masters.
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