Bookiyo-e: The Nue Monster

Bookiyo-e
Utagawa Kuniyoshi, The Nue Monster, the End, 1852
Bookiyo-e
By TROY WORKMAN

Nue is one of the oldest recorded ghosts in Japanese history. Being first documented in 712 CE, the Nue has the head of a monkey, the legs of a tiger, the torso of a racoon, and a snake as the tail. Nue's most famous appearance happens when Emperor Konoe begins to have nightmares about this creature, and out of stress, grew very sick. His illness was attributed to the evil spirit that visited his dreams, because medicine could not cure him. A few days later, a massive storm gathered over the emperor's palace, as seen above. Lightning caught the thatch roof on fire, and Emperor Konoe summoned his best samurai, Minamoto no Yorimasa, to eliminate the Nue. Yorimasa brought along his retainer I no Hayata, and his legendary bow to kill the monster. Soon, a gust of wind blew over the palace, and a giant black cloud followed. Yorimasa shot an arrow into the cloud, a horrible scream sounded, and out fell the wounded Nue, plummeting to the ground. I no Hayata climbed on its body and cut the monster down with his sword, killing it instantly. Emperor Konoe instantaneously recovered from his illness, and rewarded the valiant warriors with a legendary sword.
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Bookiyo-e: The Sailor Tokuso and the Sea Monster

Bookiyo-e
Utagawa Kuniyoshi, The Sailor Tokuso and the Sea Monster, 1830

Bookiyo-e
By TROY WORKMAN

The Japanese name for this sea monster is Umibōzu, or "sea monk," hence the bald head. Umibōzu are said to sink the ships of anyone who dares talk to it. They appear out of nowhere, usually approaching in calm waters, but when they surface, raging waves and storms instantly accumulate. Umibōzu typically try to smash the hulls of the ships with its long arms, but depending on the size, it may use other methods. These monsters ared categorize as demonic ghosts, because it is an accumulation of many different souls. They are thought to be made of drowned priests, due to the shaven head, and usually appear to be praying. These priests were usually thrown into the sea by angry villagers. 

Because of their terrible deaths, the priest's souls seek vengeance by drowning people. Others belive that Umibōzu are made up of souls who have no one to maintain their graves, as they take refuge at sea. Their bodies are described as cloud-like, and often have serpentine limbs or tentacles. If the Umibōzu is angered, it will ask for a ladle or a barrel. which it will then continue to fill up with water to drown the boat. In order to survive the Umibōzu, one must provide a bottomless ladle or barrel, so the water will pour out before it sinks the boat.
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Bookiyo-e: Okiku the Ghost Emerging from the Well

Bookiyo-e
Katsushika Hokusai, Okiku the Well Ghost, 1830
Bookiyo-e
By TROY WORKMAN

Okiku's story has quite a long history but its origins are unknown. The story first became popular in 1741, due to the ningyō jōruri, or puppet show, adaption. Later on in the mid-19th century, it became a well known play in Kabuki theaters all over Japan. The most popular adaptation of Okiku's story follows the roots of the original puppet show. It begins in Himeji Castle, with the reigning lord Hosokawa Katsumoto falling dangerously ill. Katsumoto's heir to the throne, Tomonosuke, plans to win the Shogun's favor in order to ensure his accession to power by sending a set of 10 priceless plates. However, Tomonosuke's chief retainer, Tetsuzan, wants to assume control by eliminating Tomonosuke. On top of that, Tomonosuke's lower retainer, Taketsune, is preparing to marry Okiku, then a lady in waiting. Tetsuzan successfully steals one of the precious plates, and orders Okiku to bring him the box of plates in his private quarters. There he attempts to seduce Okiku, but she refuses due to her love for Taketsune. 

After Okiku rejects him, he tells her to count the plates and she only counts nine. Tetsuzan then blames her of theft, and traditionally the punishment for stealing those rare plates was execution. He then tries to offer to lie for her if she becomes his mistress, but again she refuses. Tetsuzan then begins beating her with a wooden sword. He binds her up and suspends her above the well. Enjoying her torture, he lowers her into the water and hoists her back up and continues to beat her with the wooden sword. On the final try, Tetsuzan commands Okiku to assist in the murder of Tomonosuke and to become his mistress. Okiku refuses and then Tetsuzan then strikes her with his actual sword which sends her body plummeting down into the well. As Tetsuzan is wiping the blood from his sword, he hears counting from one to nine coming for the well. Okiku's ghost rises out of the well as Tetsuzan stares at her with scorn.

Okiku's body in this print consists of the nine plates that sealed her fate. In other adaptations, Okiku's ghost torments her killer by wandering the house and counting to nine, then letting out a horrifying scream on ten to represent the missing plate. Some people believe she cried out in agony because she was looking for the last plate but could never find it. In other versions, an exorcist came to get rid of Okiku's ghost, and when she began count to nine, the exorcist shouted ten before she screamed, and vanquished her. Her spirit was happy that someone found the tenth plate and she could move to the afterlife in peace. But many people also believe Okiku is still in the well at Himeji castle, and since it is closed at night, she may come back out and count to nine.
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Bookiyo-e: The Fox-Woman Kuzunoha leaving Her Child

Bookiyo-e

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, The Fox-Woman Kuzunoha leaving Her Child, 1890
Bookiyo-e
By TROY WORKMAN

The story of Kuzunoha begins in the tenth century with a a young nobleman named Abe no Yasuna. One day he is visiting Shinoda shrine in Settsu province. On his way, he encounters a military commissioner who is hunting foxes for their livers, which are used in traditional medicine. Yasuna decides to fight the hunter and wins, but is wounded in the process. Immediately after his victory, he sets a white fox free from a trap the hunter set. Shortly after, a beautiful woman named Kuzunoha comes and tends to his wounds and helps him home. Without Yasuna knowing, this woman is the same white fox he set free.
In Japanese myth, foxes are able to shapeshift into human form with the use of different leaves on their heads for transformation, hence "Kuzu" or Kudzu leaf, from her name "Kuzunoha." Yasuna falls in love with Kuzunoha and then they later marry. She bears him a child named Abe no Seimei, who later becomes a prominent onmyooji, or spiritual astrologist for the Emperor. Several years later Kuzunoha is viewing some chrysanthemums and Seimei sees the tip of her tail. After her true identity is revealed, she prepares to depart back to the forest. Before she leaves, she writes a farewell poem on a screen, asking her husband to come visit her in Shinoda forest, where he first saved her. Yasuna and Seimei search for her and she appears to them in the form of a fox. Kuzunoha then reveals that she is the kami, or God, of Shinoda shrine and bestows upon Seimei a gift of being able to comprehend the language of beasts. Abe no Seimei cured Emperor Toba of a special spell cast by Tamamo no Mae, the Emperor's favorite concubine. Tamamo no Mae was supposedly a nine tail fox herself. 


Relative to Japanese mythology, foxes often are portrayed as malicious and dangerous. But the fox is also revered as guardians of the rice crop and also the messenger of the god of harvests, Inari. It is said that when a fox turns 100 years old, it can not only assume human form, but can possess humans as well. When a fox turns 1000, it will turn gold, and grow nine tails.



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Bookiyo-e: The Ghost of Oiwa

Bookiyo-e
Katsushika Hokusai, The Ghost of Oiwa, 1831

Bookiyo-e
By TROY WORKMAN

This print comes from the story of Yotsuya Kaidan. Originally a Kabuki play, Yotsuya Kaidan is one of the most famous Japanese ghost stories. The play starts with a young woman named Oiwa. Oiwa’s father wants her and her partner, Iemon, to separate. But Iemon brutally kills her father out of anger. Without Oiwa knowing that her father’s killer is her own partner, Oiwa then marries Iemon. Shortly after, another woman named Oume falls madly in love with Iemon but feels she is much uglier than Oiwa. So Oume and her grandfather made a plan to disguise a topical poison as a skin cream. Unbknowest to Oiwa, she applies the poison, and her skin begins to scar. Iemon sees her horrifying appearance, and asks his friend to rape Oiwa so he has an excuse to divorce her. Iemon’s friend couldn't carry through with it, so instead he showed Oiwa her own reflection in a mirror. Upon seeing her reflection, Oiwa grabbed a knife and ran towards the door. Iemon’s friend tried to grab her but she falls and the tip of the knife pierces her throat. As Oiwa bleeds out, she curses Iemon. After her death, Iemon marries Oume, and on their wedding night, Oiwa’s ghost appears and tricks Iemon into slaying both Oume and her grandfather. 

Oiwa’s body is said to be buried at the Myogyo-ji Temple in Tokyo. Since this ghost story has accumulated so much fame since its Kabuki debut in 1825, there have been many different adaptations, in the form of television shows and films. Reports of mysterious accidents and even deaths have occurred on the set of these modern works, leading to the now ritual trip to Oiwa’s burial site at Myogyo-ji Temple, to ask permission for their production. The permission from Oiwa is thought to be paramount for the actor who portrays her. Oiwa’s spirit is known as a onryō, or a ghost who seeks vengeance. The way Oiwa is able to bridge her way back to Earth is her undying zeal for revenge. Usually Oiwa would be depicted as wearing a white burial kimono, long unkempt hair with patches missing from the poison, and her eye at a drooping slanted angle due to the burns of the poison. 

The story of Oiwa carries a powerful message. "What comes around goes around." In the end of the play, Iemon tries to find solace in a remote island off the coast. Instead of finding tranquility, Oiwa follows him and merges Iemon’s dream world with reality. He quickly spirals out of control and into a vortex of insanity. Iemon’s friend comes looking and finds him in the forests, and recognizes his insanity. Out of disgust and compassion, his friend kills Iemon with his sword. Oiwa’s strength after death greatly surpasses her power in her past life. Not only does she get her revenge on Iemon, she transforms him from the tormentor into the tormented.

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Your body is a battleground

Barbara Kruger
Barbara Kruger, Your body is a battleground, 1989
By TROY WORKMAN

In 1989, Barbara Kruger designed this print for the March for Women's Lives in Washington D.C. The march's purpose was for the women's reproductive rights protest. Kruger's bold statements with the sharp text, compliments the positive and negative sides of the image, symbolizing the inner struggle between right and wrong. Barbara Kruger's work throws controversial issues right into the viewer's face, forcing them to confront it at that moment. Her political statement frankly addresses the audience with the bold text, but also with the struggle for feminism in this period. Kruger links the bond between the woman's physicality with the modern day constrictions by laws placed upon it. This piece perfectly embodies her style of art, which is afraid of nothing, and will confront anyone who dares to look at it. Not only does feminism reoccur in many of her works, the idea of making the audience think for themselves makes her work worth looking at, and distinguishes her vastly from other artists.
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The Enigma of an Autumn Afternoon

Giorgio de Chirico
Giorgio de Chirico, The Enigma of an Autumn Afternoon, 1910
By TROY WORKMAN

There's nothing quite like the beginning of an era, like the exciting freshness of an idea. For Giorgio de Chirico, this was his new idea, and the spark that would light the minds of the greatest surrealist artists known to man. In 1910 de Chirico began his Metaphysical Town Square series in which this painting was the first made. These dreamily isolated works show heavy resemblances to where de Chirico grew up and spent his childhood years. In this painting, de Chirico depicts Florence's Piazza Santa Croce in a very simplified fashion. He uses the classic piazza with facades and long drooping shadows, along with deep and rich colors to reflect a city at dusk. This cumulative effect isolates the viewer to feel as if they are there, but as a ghost. This is truly what I love about de Chirico's paintings.
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Fumée d'Ambre Gris

Fumme d'Ambre Gris
John Singer Sargent, Fumée d'Ambre Gris, 1880
By TROY WORKMAN

The year before this painting's completion, John Singer Sargent took a trip to Tangier in North Africa. Orientalism in Europe at the time was a popular subject among artists and decorators alike. This was one of two paintings Sargent submitted to the Paris Salon of 1880. Sargent's depiction of Orientalism, shows a woman covered in an elaborate gown, bathing in the smoke of smoldering ambergris, a waxy substance that whales produce which is used in many perfumes. In Northern Africa where this woman lived, ambergris would be considered an aphrodisiac and a repellent to evil spirits. Her society would've forced her to be an extremely private woman, but since she models for Sargent, her social status moves to the outer ranks where this would be more acceptable. Sargent merges influences from many parts of the East, so it can be inferred that this particular image was created mostly in his mind.

The color attracted the most praise in this painting for obvious reasons. Sargent looks beyond the boundaries of just "white", and into individual shades that mesh and contrast perfectly with the subject matter. From the cold white walls of the room, to the white airy fabric draped around her body, each object receives a different level of attention to the individual hues of white. To me, this is the epitome of Sargent's work, and demonstrates his complete mastery of not only framing the subject matter, but paying extreme attention to the shades and hues in every object.

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Fêtes and Folly: The King Drinks

Fêtes and Folly
Jacob Jordaens, The King Drinks, 1638
By TROY WORKMAN

Members of the royal court cheer,"The king drinks!" The hullabaloo intensifies in drunkenness. The king is in reality, just a common man. But for the evening, he is the almighty ruler. The lucky man found a hidden bean in his tart, thus earning the title of king for the evening. Filling his royal court with what seems to be the rowdiest Belgian crew, the king buries himself deeper in gluttony.

The temporary king is actually Jordaen's step father and fellow painter, Adam van Noort. Beyond intoxicated, every person appears to be eternally trapped in a humiliating pose. From the vomiting man plummeting to the floor, to the mother wiping her horrified child's rear for no reason, even the audience can smell the reek of alcohol. Jordaens certainly learned his lesson from this painting, as he later in life became a devout Protestant. Located just above the king, a sign in Dutch reads "in een vry gelachllst goet gast syn," or in English "Where there is a free meal it is good to be a guest." Irony presents itself in the fact that these people are wasting to excess and are not appreciating their privilege as guests.

 *** Editor's Note: Students developed the topic of Fêtes and Folly to chronicle elegant celebrations, bad dates, late nights, or other things related to that time in Spring where barbaric yawps can be heard from backyards, beaches, or the more familiar rooftop. Enjoy their revelry, cheeky overstatement, and occasional tales of ribaldry over the next couple of weeks.
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Guernica

Guernica
Pablo Picasso, Guernica, 1937
By TROY WORKMAN

Plane engines scream across the sky. Bombs roar as they tear through bricks and steel, fire swallows buildings and people whole. Nazis and Spanish fascists soak their cold hands in innocent blood.

On April 27, 1937, the sleepy town of Guernica in the Basque country of Spain, was mercilessly bombed. Seventy percent of the town was destroyed and one third of the civilians were murdered. Guernica held no strategic value, it was simply picked as a stage for genocide. 100,000 pounds of incendiary bombs were washed over the city for three hours, while other planes picked off civilians trying to escape the fire and rubble. Fires raged across the city for three days.

When the news struck Paris just days after the attack, and Picasso was horrified. He began making hundreds of sketches, and completed the painting for the Paris World's Fair. Not only did millions of people see this work of art at the Fair, after the event the Spanish Republicans sent Guernica on a world tour, and brought the Spanish Civil War to the globe's attention. The painting traveled for 19 years, and eventually returned home to Spain in 1981. Picasso stated that he wanted the painting to return only after Spain had public liberties and Democratic institutions.

The piece itself rattles with chaos. Black, White, and Grey, fight for balance in the jagged shapes. People and animals scream with shattered tongues. A man lies dead with a severed arm and a broken sword. A woman howls with grief for her dead child. A horse cries, impaled by shrapnel. People flail while being eaten alive by burning buildings. Guernica is the pinnacle of Picasso's extraordinary ability. This timeless piece represents the new era of modern warfare, and there is no escaping for anyone.


  • 7:00 AM

The Meeting

Gustave Courbet
Gustave Courbet, The Meeting, 1854
By TROY WORKMAN

Ah, nothing rejuvenates creativity quite like a scenic journey through nature. Our artist decided join us in this painting. The bearded man on the far right is Gustave Courbet. To his near left, is his patron Alfred Bruyas. His fine green coat marks his status as a wealthy individual. Being the son of a Banker and also being a part time painter, it can be assumed that the carriage in the distance if probably his. Next to Bruyas is his servant named Calas, as well as his dog. 

Courbet almost entirely based this composition off of a popular print showing "The Bourgeois of the Town Speaking to the Wandering Jew." The "Wandering Jew" was a legendary folk figure who was an outcast and was cursed to eternally roam the Earth. The man mocked Jesus on the way to his execution, which brought the curse upon him. Courbet easily cast himself in the "Wandering Jew" role for him being the victim of persecution. He also used the "Wandering Jew" theme in a painting before. In this painting Courbet wanted to display the tradition of the traveling artisan.

Bruyas seems to hold a deep respect for Courbet, as his glove is off, presumably to shake his hand. Courbet hasn't returned the gesture possibly because patron and artisan are on different levels, as Bruyas is in Courbet's territory as an artist. Calas' head is bowed deeply, displaying upmost respect for Courbet, and the dog stands at Bruyas' side symbolizing loyalty.

This painting was exhibited in Paris at the 1855 Exhibition Universelle, where some critics ridiculed the painting, giving it the name "Bonjour Monsieur Courbet". Bruyas did not exhibit The Meeting until he donated it to the Musee Fabre in Montpellier in 1868.

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Gassed

Gassed
John Singer Sargent, Gassed, 1919

By TROY WORKMAN

Arms and the Boy
by Wilfred Owen

Let the boy try along this bayonet-blade
How cold steel is, and keen with hunger of blood;
Blue with all malice, like a madman's flash;
And thinly drawn with famishing for flesh.

Lend him to stroke these blind, blunt bullet-heads
Which long to muzzle in the hearts of lads.
Or give him cartridges of fine zinc teeth,
Sharp with the sharpness of grief and death.

For his teeth seem for laughing round an apple.
There lurk no claws behind his fingers supple;
And God will grow no talons at his heels,
Nor antlers through the thickness of his curls.
Editor's Note: Students were asked to match a poem of their choice with a painting of their choice. The relationship between the two shall be determined by the viewer/reader.
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The Lock

Jean-Honore Fragonard
Jean-Honoré Fragonard, The Lock, 1779
By TROY WORKMAN

'Clack'. The heavy wooden door is sealed from the inside. You are now witnessing a private yet ominous moment. The soft and pale damsel in distress half-heartedly fends off the man's advances. Her face shifts in limbo between curiosity and complete rejection, and her arm is at his throat like a knife, but he simply moves further.

The blood red fabric draped around the bed stands for a passion that isn't present at this moment. There is no passion at all, only lust from the man. An innocent apple sits alone on the table, but that's all it took from Eve. "Just one bite", said the snake. That same snake coils himself around her, constricting her freedom, ignoring her disapproval. On the floor in the lower right corner are some flowers and a vase, which symbolizes women and female genitals. They are knocked over and strewn onto the ground, lying helpless waiting for the darkness to overpower them. Way up high and in the focus of the light is the lock, symbolizing men and male genitals. It is prominent and can trap the woman into submission, it has more status. Lastly, the chair with its legs in the air. The cloth and table covers it up and keeps it hidden. Quite like the man concealing his devilish act from outsiders.

Why would you want this? Because it radiates the injustice of inequality. It will remind you of the evil in humanity, it will keep you weary. Or maybe you and the man in that picture have something in common, you both should be sent to prison. Whatever it may be, this painting is truly moving, and strikes a looming sense of concern into your heart.

Editor's Note: The authors were asked to write sales copy for Edme-François Gersaint, the prominent rococo art dealer who offered a printed catalog of available works.




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No.5/No.22

Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko, No.5/No.22, 1950
By TROY WORKMAN

 My first time ever seeing a Rothko painting was painfully shallow. I saw boxes of various warm colors stacked boringly on top of each other. Assuming the painter was as repetitive and simple as his paintings, I quickly moved on to more eye catching and more viewer friendly pieces. Only after discovering that his paintings were supposed to reflect tragedy, ecstasy, and doom, I began to understand. One had to open their mind to an abstract space where they could relate abstraction to emotion.

In August of 2014, I took a two week trip to Japan with a group of peers. On our final days before heading home, we decided to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. The museum and memorial ground sits directly underneath the epicenter where the atomic bomb detonated 70 years ago. Upon entering the museum, our faculty guides warned us of the graphic content inside, and they were not joking. Locks of people's hair, cut out tongues, charred children's tricycles, school uniforms burnt on one side from the bright flash, a man's shadow burnt onto the side of a concrete building from that same flash, kitchenware fused together, mannequins depicting families with flesh melting off their limbs walking among the rubble and burning remains. Later on in the museum, we learned that one second after the bomb detonated, the center of the blast reached 2,000,000 degrees Fahrenheit and was almost 1,000 feet in diameter. The entire city was flattened instantly.

This painting reminds me of the bombing of Hiroshima.

The intensely warm and radiant colors saturate the canvas in a fiery haze. The city blazes the most vivid red separating the broiling sky and the scorching earth. The rivers shrivels only to faint insignificant white lines strewed across the red city. The masses of flames blend each level of hell together in one grand array of suffering and death. The bomb acts as a colossal furnace mindlessly cremating one hundred fifty thousand people simultaneously. For me, Rothko embodies the spirit of helplessness of Hiroshima in this painting.
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