International ARC Seminar: Introducing an Album of Preparatory Drawings by Isai Katsukika — Dr. Ellis Tinios (2021年 11月 10日)
This was a fascinating talk by Dr. Ellis Tinios, attended virtually, and held by Ritsumeikan University’s Art Research Center.
Dr. Suzuki Keiko of ARC began by introducing Dr. Tinios and giving us a brief back ground of his publications and areas of research, then Dr. Tinios began his talk proper. In 2020, the British Museum acquired drawings by Hokusai (which are currently being exhibited) from the collection of Henri Vever. He explained that Dr. Matsuba Ryoko of SISJAC did the photography and all the drawings from that collection.
Isai Katsukika (1821-80, birth name: Kiyomizu Sōji) was a contemporary of Hokusai and, after Hokusai died, Isai published his first books. This particular talk was an introduction on Isai gashiki shitazu (1864), a collection of drawings in various states of preparation, from initial sketches to those used in printing. His range of works included poems, art, anthologies, sutra and woodprints. He also created three edehon or ‘design manuals’.
Due to the popularity of Hokusai and the similarities between the two artists’ styles, many of Isai’s works were mislabeled during the Meiji period by substituting the kanji in the artists names (Katsukika,為斎, with Katsushika, 北斎).
Isai gashiki shitazu (1864) contains 28 preparatory drawings from Isai gashiki vols. 1 and 2, as well as 15 for vols. 3 and 4. During the discussion, Dr. Tinios discussed the importance of the hikkō, the calligrapher who wrote the text which would then be printed using the woodblocks, as well as the importance of preserving the hanashita-e, the wood-blocks used to print and how their creation was a creative process, rather than a mechanical one, such as those used to print in the West.
As UEA MA students, we also had the opportunity to speak privately with Dr. Tinios after the talk ended. I initially found the subject overwhelming but then came to the understanding that the printing processes share some processes with those used today in modern manga, a process which as an editor and adaptor, I have some familiarity with. Indeed the period-use of taking many drawings and assembling them as pentimenti on a backing page actually seems a little more practical. Dr. Tinios made many fascinating comments but his final remakes concluded the talk by ended by comparing the two artists calling Hokusai great and Isai ‘competent’.
A video of the talk, kindly provided by ARC, is below.
