Yoshitoshi: The Story of Otomi and Yosaburô, with Yasu the Bat

Artist: Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Title: The Story of Otomi and Yosaburô
Series: New Selection of Eastern Brocade Pictures (Shinsen azuma nishikie)
Date: 1885

At right is Yosaburô, a petty criminal, who wears his head wrapped in a scarf to cover the knife marks inflicted by a gangster whose girlfriend he once had an affair with. At left is Kômoriyasu (“Yasu the Bat”), Yosaburô’s partner in crime, who is here pointing with his finger. He bears a tattoo of a bat on his face. The figure of Yasu the Bat is said to be a portrait of Toshimasa, one of Yoshitoshi’s pupils, who paid for his lessons by acting as Yoshitoshi’s personal servant. Others say that the depiction of Yosaburô represents the way Yoshitoshi looked on himself. An evocative work that demonstrates the subtle genius of Yoshitoshi's later years.

Condition: Excellent impression and color; very good condition. Two sheets are joined. Unbacked.

Dimensions: ôban diptych
Publisher: Tsunashima Kamekichi
Literature: Shown in color in “Beauty & Violence”, number 55.1, page 76.
Seal: Yoshitoshi
Signature: Yoshitoshi

SKU: YOT738