Naval Battle in the Japan Sea (Nihonkai no kaisen)
Artist
Getsuzo
(Japanese, active 1904–1905)
Date1905
Mediumwoodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
DimensionsOban Triptych: 25.4 × 111.1 cm (10 × 43 3/4 in.)
ClassificationsPrints
Credit LineHarriet B. Bancroft Fund
Object number1999.41
DescriptionInscription in cartouche: On May 27, 1905, in the vicinity of the islands off Chikuzen, our fleet under [Admiral] Tögö furiously attacked the Second and Third [Russian] Fleets which [the enemy] had depended upon as their vital wings. [Tögö's fleet] attacked and sank 17 ships, captured 5 ships and, taking over 3000 prisoners including the admiral, totally destroyed the [Russian] fleet. The achievement of our naval forces should be praised as an unprecedented event.Betty Swinton--The text reads: "It was on May 27, 1905 our Togo fleet attacked fiercely the Second and Third Russian Fleets, which [the Russians] had depended upon as their vital wings, in the vicinity of the islands off Chikuzen. They sank 17 ships, captured 5, and took 3,000 captives including an admiral and totally destroyed the fleet. The achievement of our naval forces should be praised an an unprecedented event. This print records the battle in the Straits of Tsushima when Admiral Togo Heihachiro's fleet destroyed the Russian Baltic fleet to end the war. A "portrait" of the warship whose superior speed and (and handling) defeated the Russian navy, the image describes every detail of the ship and the actions of its crew in a style similar to that of the Western illustrators who were covering the war.
ProvenanceIsrael Goldman, London
On View
Not on view
