Priest Sōgi Sees Two Ghosts
Artist
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 月岡 芳年
(Japanese, 1839–1892)
Date1892
Mediumwoodblock print; ink, color, embossing, and burnishing on paper
DimensionsOban: 36.2 × 24.1 cm (14 1/4 × 9 1/2 in.)
ClassificationsPrints
Credit LineAlexander H. Bullock Fund
Terms
Object number2002.212
DescriptionThe travelling priest Sōgi took refuge in an abandoned house, with moldy walls, bare floors, and wild grasses growing through the floorboards. The bright moon illuminates the autumn foliage and the ghosts in the inner room. Yoshitoshi supposedly saw the ghost of a courtesan on the stairs of a brothel in 1871, and also saw the ghost of his dead mistress around 1880. Perhaps his own experiences led Yoshitoshi to depict supernatural encounters with uneasy disquiet, without relying on the theatrical devices of exaggeration commonly employed on the kabuki stage and in his earlier works.Label TextThe travelling priest Sōgi took refuge in an abandoned house, with moldy walls, bare floors, and wild grasses growing through the floorboards. The bright moon illuminates the autumn foliage and the ghosts in the inner room. Yoshitoshi supposedly saw the ghost of a courtesan on the stairs of a brothel in 1871, and also saw the ghost of his dead mistress around 1880. Perhaps his own experiences led Yoshitoshi to depict supernatural encounters with uneasy disquiet, without relying on the theatrical devices of exaggeration commonly employed on the kabuki stage and in his earlier works.ProvenanceKatie and Scott McDonald, Rochester, NY
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