Material
Acrylic on canvas
About
Contemporary interpretation of “Wakashima Gonemon Swimming Underwater” by Taiso Yoshitoshi. Signed and dated in front lower right corner by artist E. Butler. Currently unframed, but options are available.
Artist Biography
The original image is from a series of ukiyo-e woodblock prints titled "Tales of the Floating World on Eastern Brocade (Azuma no nishiki ukiyo kôdan)" by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi published from 1867-8 by Masudaya Ginjiro. In this series, popular stories (kôdari) of drama and violence from various sources were retold by Kanagaki Rôbun, whose text appears in the top right corner of the composition. Wakashima Gonemon dives into a whirlpool to retrieve an ancient dragon-headed bell at the bottom of the Sumida river. According to the text in the piece, the Water (or Dragon) God was unwilling to part with the old bell, the rope broke and the bell is still there at the bottom of the river; hence the origin of the term Kanegafuchi (bell deep).
Dimensions
H 59.88 in x W 42 in x D 1 in
![Large Blue Painting of “Wakashima Gonemon Swimming Underwater” Ukiyo-e Print 1992](https://reevesantiques.imgix.net/media/A2022.1025.4733.1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=90&w=320&s=0fa690695500347233a50c279804b79a 320w, https://reevesantiques.imgix.net/media/A2022.1025.4733.1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=90&w=540&s=be6d2226da09f946ddf03e7c7cbda827 540w, https://reevesantiques.imgix.net/media/A2022.1025.4733.1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=90&w=768&s=b4d9e78746cbe2686ae3f9ea06a54b28 768w, https://reevesantiques.imgix.net/media/A2022.1025.4733.1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=90&w=1024&s=8047ce03d8525064b10187f8af3add08 1024w, https://reevesantiques.imgix.net/media/A2022.1025.4733.1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=90&w=1200&s=eb8f002756c8d5f8b4372d016b7476b9 1200w, https://reevesantiques.imgix.net/media/A2022.1025.4733.1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=90&w=1440&s=35d7f8dc655d2bd770a08c4fd40ca4b6 1440w, https://reevesantiques.imgix.net/media/A2022.1025.4733.1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=90&w=1920&s=4af54c7a89d1d9d0fe93dc85117a892a 1920w)