Kitano Tsunetomi (北野恒富) (artist 1880 – 1947)

Umegawa [梅川] from the play Meido no hikyaku ['The Courier of Hell' - 冥途の飛脚]

Print

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Date:04/1922
Dimensions:11.5 in x 16 in (Overall dimensions) Medium:Japanese woodblock print
Inscription:Seal: Tsunetomi (恒富)
Links Waseda University
Honolulu Museum of Arts
Art Institute of Chicago - gift of Yamagishi Kazue in 1928
The National Museum of Asian Art
Rijksmuseum
Centre Céramique de Maastricht
Lyon Collection - another similar print by Tsunetomi Description:In Taishō Chic: Japanese Modernity, Nostalgia, and Deco Kendall Brown wrote in 2001 on page 108 it says: "Tsunetomi’s fascination with the old culture of Osaka is most apparent in his visual allusions to the dramas of the great playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1724). This print shows the low-ranking twenty-two year old courtesan Umegawa, who, along with her lover Chūbei, is the protagonist of Chikamatsu’s renowned domestic drama Meido no hikyaku (The Courier for Hell) of 1711. In order to buy out Umegawa’s contract before a detested rival can do so, Chūbei, the adopted proprietor of the Kameya courier service, steals money he has been entrusted to deliver. In the play’s climax, the pair flee the brothel and, knowing they will be captured and put to death, take a lovers’ journey (michiyuki) to Chūbei’s native village to pay final respects at her mother’ grave. Tsunetomi illustrates this scene, which takes place in a snowstorm on a bitterly cold morning."

Later it says: "Tsunetomi’s image is from a set of eighteen prints, published between 1922-25 as Woodblock Print Supplement to “The Complete Works of Chikamatsu” (Furoku mokuhart “Dai Chikamatsu zenshū”). In this and other works in the series, Tsunetomi depicts the character described in Chikamatsu’s puppet play rather than any of the Kabuki actors who played the part."

"Tsunetomi captures Umegawa clad in a blue cloak, bringing her sleeve to her mouth as large flakes of snow fall around her. The choice of blue for the cowl refers directly to the famous text in the michiyuki scene of the play — one of the most densely written passages in Chikamatsu’s oeuvre. In this passage, Chubei first recalls the similarly snowy morning when he and Umegawa met. Then, in a complex series of puns and allusions, Chubei states that their relationship, once like a white cloth, is now a fully saturated in deep-hued blue. Because they are now dyed in love, they cannot return to their former lives but must die together."

"To contrast with, and perhaps counterbalance, the intense emotion of the moment, Tsunetomi depicts Umegawa with a faint, wistful smile — perhaps she recalls her pleasure at first meeting Chubei. The faint streaks of red at her eyes, however, suggest the sleepless nights she has spent. The pathos of the starcrossed Umegawa is further indicated by the sketchy, informal quality of the lines in the print which suggest the vitality of a quick drawing rather than a formal print."

"Trained in his youth as a block carver, Tsunetomi remained sensitive to the nuances of carved lines. The nine woodblock prints produced from Tsunetomi’s designs all feature superlative technical production. This image was printed by Nishimura Kumakichi from blocks cut by Yamagishi Kazue (1893-ca. 1985), arguably the greatest modern block cutter. Renowned for his ability to suggest loose, modulating brushwork in printed lines, Yamagishi made a gift this print to the Art Institute of Chicago in 1928"

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The tradition of Umegawa in print form goes way back. Chikamatsu wrote a play in 1711 for the puppet theater where a poor young man, Chūbei falls in love with a prostitute name Umegawa. This couple was portrayed in a print by Sharaku as early in 1794.

For the 200th anniversary of Chikamatsu's birth, from 1922-25, a project of 15 volumes of his plays was produced. This was accompanied by a supplement of 16 prints. Some consider this print the best of the lot.

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Printed below the image: 西村熊吉; 山岸主計; et al.

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At Scholten Japanese Art they said of this print: "This is the first print from a collaborative series of 18 prints depicting famous roles from plays written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1725) which were published to accompany a set of 16 volumes of his work that were issued on a monthly basis starting in April 1922."

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There are other copies of this print in the David Owsley Museum of Art, Ball State University and at the John and Mabel Ringling Museum of Art.

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Illustrated:

1) There is a small black and white illustration of this print in The New Wave: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints in the Robert O. Muller Collection edited by Amy Reigle Stephens, Bamboo Publishing, Inc. and Hotei - Japanese Prints, number 138, page 133.

Both the example in Chicago and in Honolulu give the title Umegawa to this print. This is the name of a character in the play Meido no hikyaku [冥土の飛脚 - The Courier from Hell].

2) in black and white in 近代日本美人画展 : 伝統木版画を支えた作家たち Exhibition of Modern Japanese Beauties: Meiji, Taishō, Shōwa, Riccar Art Museum, 1982, n.p., no. 63.

3) in color in The Female Image: 20th century prints of Japanese beauties, Abe Publisher, 2000, #106, p. 86.

4) in a small black and white reproduction in the "Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago, under 'Gifts and loans', vol. 23, #2, 1929, p. 21 [Misidentified as being by Suge Tateshiko.]

5) in color in Taishō Chic: Japanese Modernity, Nostalgia, and Deco by Kendall Brown and Sharon Minichiello, Honolulu Academy of Arts, 2001, page 109.
Related entities modern prints (shin hanga - 新版画) (genre)
Taishō era (大正時代) (genre)
Chikamatsu Monzaemon (近松門左衛門) (author)

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