Seishū Hanaoka's Wife
Date
Credits
- Kiyoshi Awazu 16 Designer
Format
- Poster 1686
Media
- paper 1341
Techniques
Locations Made
- Japan 264
- Tokyo 9
- Tokyo Prefecture
Kiyoshi Awazu was born in 1929, and his work mainly focused on rescuing traditional art forms with the use of historical printing methods whole combining them with more modern illustrations and symbolism. He wanted to reexplore folklore and the past going against modernism. He was interested in traditional Japanese motifs, vivid colors, and abstract figures.
Although he had traditional aesthetics, he used contemporary ideas such as deconstructing Japanese symbols and colors that created a psychedelic style. His work offers playfulness, but also grief after post WWII.
This piece specifically is based off of a historical novel where two women are competing to be a physician's wife. There are many metaphors and symbols in the work such as the Asagao flower which is the Morning Glory. In Japanese, it would be a metaphor for a beautiful girl's face. With the crows, it traditionally is known as the birds of death, but also known as a mark of rebirth after a tragedy.
