vanitas vanitatum
memento mori from meiji
메이지의 바니타스
Utagawa (Baidõ) Kokunimasa (1874-1944)
Hell Courtesan, ca. 1900
화관으로 머리 장식을 하고 바나나 잎으로 치마를 두른
지옥의 courteasan은 시종들을 대동하고
등불을 밝혀들고 화려한 행렬을 자랑한다.
더불어 각종 유흥에 몰두 중인 해골들.
전신 엑스레이 투시도를 파노라마를 보는 듯.
메이지의 바니타스 병풍은 그로데스크하다기보단
골계미와 해학이 가득하다.
17-18세기 더치 페인팅에는 인생은 일장춘몽이라는
주제를 다룬 ”바니타스-공허“ 작품들이 많은데
죽음을 기억하라는 메멘토 모리의 주제를 담았다.
해골, 시들어가는 꽃, 촛불, 부러진 악기들, 농익은 과일을
바니타스의 은유로 그려 놓곤 했다.
하지만 미워할 수 없는 메이지의 바니타스. ^^
Imagery of the Jigoku tay (Hell Courtesan) was popular in the Meiji period, enhanced by increased appreciation and understanding of human anat-omy. In this witty rendition the Hell Courtesan leads a terrifying, yet somehow alluring, procession. In a nod to his training as an Utagawa School painter and printmaker, Kokunimasa depicts a parade of skeletons that use banana leaves and tattered umbrellas to simulate the impressive obi and silhouettes of their bijinga (images of beauties) forebears. Though known principally for his print designs of the First Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese wars, Kokunimasa in this pair of screens proves himself to be an accomplished painter of the Utagawa School tradition, infusing a popular subject with a meaningful and referential narrative.
On the screen at right a female figure, also a courtesan, appears to observe the skeletal proces-sion, perhaps as a kind of cautionary tale or memento mori— seemingly indicating that the transient and material pleasures of her world will one day leave her a skeleton stripped bare —a notion further emphasized by Kokunimasa's own signature: in the screen at right it appears superimposed on a lantern, which would traditionally be emblazoned with the name of her brothel, while at left his name marks a grave.
Kokunimasa's composition, while overtly haunting, does seem to reference the work of several other artists, with similar figures appearing in works by Kyösai (cat. 4-27) and Yoshitoshi.
However, his ultimate reference may be the monk Ikky, who according to legend helped the Hell Courtesan herself achieve enlightenment. Despite being a Buddhist monk, the eccentric Ikky reputedly spent a decade in the brothels of Osaka, enjoying the pleasures of the flesh, which here have been completely eroded, leaving only a coterie of frightening —yet gleeful, alluring, and expressive — skeletons.
Haute couture
오뜨 꾸뛰르
