Katsushika Hokusai

Two Heroes: Chugi Suikoden Ehon (Portraits of Suikoden Heroes)

Katsushika Hokusai's original woodcut, Two Heroes hails from his Portraits of Suikoden Heroes. It is a masterpiece of form, line and function. The Image depicts two heroes who are comrades. Apart from their trusting expressions and relaxed gestures, the only contrasting line is provided by the staff which vertically pushes the eye both along its length and into the circle. Even this is emblematic of their friendship as both men grasp and support it. Only the genius of Hokusai could convey such harmony by utilizing these compositional elements.

Two Heroes is an original woodcut by Hokasai printed on early 19th century Japanese rice paper and with full margins as published by Hanabusaya Heikichi in 1829 for the novel Chugi Suikoden Ehon ("Portraits of Suikoden Heroes"), written by Takai Ranzan.

Two Heroes: 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:	Two Heroes: 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.
	Apart from being a superb composition, Surprise Attack 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 a nd 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 19th century Japanese art thus challenged each other to create even greater works of woodcut art.
	Like so many of Hokusai's woodcuts, Two Heroes is a masterpiece of form, line and function. The image depicts two heroes who are comrades. Apart from their trusting expressions and relaxed gestures this is reinforced by a multitude of graceful curves and lines which forms an almost completed circle full of both warmth and comfort. The only contrasting line is provided by the staff which vertically pushes the eye both along its length and into the circle. Even this is emblematic of their friendship as both men grasp and support it. Only the genius of Hokusai could convey such harmony by utilizing these compositional elements
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:	8 X 6 Small Chuban (Sizes in inches are approximate, height preceding width of plate-mark or image.)
	Framed and Matted with 100% Archival Materials
Condition:	Printed on early 19th century Japanese mulberry (rice) paper and with full margins as published by Heikichi in 1829 in Chugi Suikoden Ehon. Tipped onto board along the outer edges by a former collector and showing no trace of deterioration. It is 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.
Price:	Sold - The price is no longer available.
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