Yoshitoshi: Final drawing for an unpublished print; Kobayashi Heihachiro (Sold)

Artist: Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Title: Final drawing for an unpublished print; Kobayashi Heihachiro
Date: c.1866

It is from the same provenance and the same series as the drawing in “Beauty & Violence”, page 156. It shows the warrior Oku (or Waka) Handayû completing the stroke with his sword following the beheading of his enemy. It is signed “Shimoto Ôju Ikkaisai Yoshitoshi ga”. The date is circa 1866. Although there is still some red under-drawing on the enemy’s head, it is quite a finished drawing in all other aspects. The line is very confident. There is some western-style shading on the face, done in a soft, red-brown wash. I showed the drawing to Roger Keyes and he had no doubt as to its authenticity and that it comes directly from the hand of Yoshitoshi himself. It is very much in keeping with his other early work. (Yoshitoshi’s circumstances at the time would not have allowed him to have a pupil do the drawing for him, in any case.) There is no series title, and no print is known that corresponds to this design.

Kobayashi holding his sword uprised

Dimensions: 367x256mm
Literature: Beauty & Violence p.156 D2
Signature: shimoto oju ikkaisai yoshitoshi ga

SKU: DRW280