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19 février 2009

"The Tale of Shuten Dōji" @ Smithsonian's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

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The Tale of Shuten Dōji, Detail of Painting 1, scroll 2 from a set of three; Japan, Edo period, 1700; Handscroll; Ink, color, gold and silver on paper. Purchase, Friends of Asian Arts, F1998.303.2

WASHINGTON, DC.- Vividly illustrated screens, scrolls, fans and printed books tell an ancient Japanese story of a monster, samurai and sake in the exhibition "The Tale of Shuten Dōji," at the Smithsonian's Arthur M. Sackler GalleryVividly illustrated screens, scrolls, fans and printed books tell an ancient Japanese story of a monster, samurai and sake in the exhibition "The Tale of Shuten Dōji," at the Smithsonian's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery from March 21 through Sept. 20.

With a plot fit for an action movie, this popular legend set in 10th-century Japan begins with news of the abduction of young noblewomen from Kyoto. Under orders from the emperor, samurai heroes disguised as pilgrim monks take off in pursuit, entering the mountain fortress of Shuten Dōji, who turns a fiery shade of red and transforms to a monstrous giant when he drinks sake. After tricking Shuten Dōji into drinking a sake potion, the samurai hero, Minamoto Yorimitsu (948-1021), beheads him, battles his monstrous horde, rescues the surviving women and returns to Kyoto in triumph. The tale proved so popular that it appeared in works commissioned for elite patrons and in widely available printed books.

The exhibition explores the dynamic methods that Japanese artists of the Edo period (1615-1868) developed for rendering action and movement through time and space in illustrated stories. Working on handscrolls and folding screens that allow uninterrupted illustrations of sequences of events, artists created modes of pictorial narratives that approach the effects of modern cinema. Clouds and mist create effects such as fades and dissolves and scenes that appear to zoom in and out.

"This exhibition offers scholars and the public an extraordinary opportunity to explore the dynamic world of Japanese pictorial storytelling before modern film, anime and manga," said Ann Yonemura, curator of the exhibition and senior associate curator of Japanese art for the Freer and Sackler galleries.

A highlight of the exhibition is a set of three handscrolls by Kano Shōun (1637-1702), a professional artist of the Kano school. Shōun depicts the tale in an especially luxurious and vibrant manner on silk, rather than the usual paper, and uses ink, color, gold and silver for illustrations. Calligraphy of these scrolls by an imperial prince and two other noblemen attests to the elite patronage of this work. The other set of handscrolls, by an unknown artist, depict the events vividly in 23 sections of text followed by pictures.

Also on view are preliminary sketches for paintings of the Tale of Shuten Dōji. Hand-painted fans were created by many artists, either for personal use or for mounting in albums or on scrolls.

Presented together for the first time since their acquisition by the Freer and Sackler galleries are two sets of handscrolls, a pair of screens, sketches for a set of fan paintings by Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831-1889), book illustrations by Hokusai (1760-1868) and other artists, as well as paintings from the private collections of Joe and Etsuko Price and Robert and Betsy Feinberg.

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