Tales from the Island of Serendip 4 4

[Pat Calhoun]

[Flex Mentallo]

There is good reason to believe that the Japanese invented a form of comic book long before we did here in the West. For example Musashi's exploits were depicted in this way. They were a lot cruder than the remarkable prints such as the one below  that later found there way here and sparked a revolution in aesthetic sensibility.

[Flex Mentallo]

Today I will content myself just to share some of the work I admire, mainly by Utamaro and Hiroshige. I'm cheating here, because while I do have books on a couple of great print makers, shown below. I have not yet found satisfactory volumes on those two. This post reminds me I need to!

[Flex Mentallo]

Utamaro

 

 

[Flex Mentallo]

[Flex Mentallo]

Perhaps not surprisingly, the Japanese were just as fascinated by wildlife as their Western contemporaries. Though their depictions were well observed, however the  sensibility at work is more poetic than scientific. Here is a small selection from Utamaro's Chorus of birds, a facsimile of which is cheaply available on Amazon if anyone is interested.

[Flex Mentallo]

[Flex Mentallo]

[Flex Mentallo]

Here is the book itself (in facsimile)

Edited December 26, 2017 by Flex Mentallo

[Flex Mentallo]

Hiroshige was another great master. Like Utamaro he also frequently used birds, fishes and plants in his work, but to greater dramatic effect.

[Flex Mentallo]

[Flex Mentallo]

[Flex Mentallo]

These are from his series, A Shoal of Fishes...

[Flex Mentallo]

[Flex Mentallo]

Clearly, we are in the realm of  unnatural history.

[Flex Mentallo]

[Flex Mentallo]

[Flex Mentallo]

Imagine Hiroshige on, say, Batman!

[Flex Mentallo]

[Flex Mentallo]