Artist: Katsushika Hokusai
Date: 1839
Museum: Fukuda Art Museum (Kyoto, Japan)
Technique: Silk
A great red-faced Tengu who reaches out his right hand to fly is drawn in this painting. The combination of his dynamic posture and a spider’s web reminds us of an American comic book hero. He appears to chase after autumn leaves fluttering down. For a spider’s web painted in the background, a technique called “Soto-guma” which makes a motif look white by applying black ink to its exterior is used. The face and clothes of the great Tengu are shaded, and his hair is carefully represented in detail. The theme of this painting is unknown. However, as an example, “Daie,” a Noh song, contains a story in which a monk, who helped the Tengu when he was caught on a spider’s web (he took the shape of a kite at that time), was repaid for his kindness in later. It is possible that this Noh song gave Hokusai an idea for this painting. Currently, it is mounted on a hanging scroll, but originally, it was one of 12 pieces put on a pair of six-fold screens. In addition to this painting, there existed “White Monk,” “Ebisu,” “Daikokuten” and others. His signature stating that “Brush of Manji, the Old Man Mad about Painting, aged eighty-five” is put on the one of those pieces to show that they were produced in 1839.
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