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Kitao Masanobu (Santō Kyōden)

January 30, 1786 · Ink and color on paper · Asian Art

This compendium is a pastiche of the time-honored convention of assembling the best poets and a single representative poem for each. The fifty poets here are Kyōden's contemporaries in the irreverent world of Kyōka poetry. The rich colors and striking details like the pile of books bending beneath the weight of the haikai poet known by the pen name Kabe no Nakanuri (1769–1832) on the right-hand page are typical of the printed work done for literary circles at this time.

Artist

Kitao Masanobu (Santō Kyōden)

Date

January 30, 1786

Medium

Ink and color on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Gift of Mrs. Henry J. Bernheim, 1945