KAWANABE KYÔSAI (1831–1889) Uchiwa, a rigid fan, painted in colour with gold highlights and gold leaf on paper, depicting a beautiful young woman in a bust portrait, holding a puppet representing the female demon from the famous Noh play entitled Kurozuka. The curtain embroidered with peonies on the left appears to evoke the one leading onto a theatre stage. Bearing a Kyôsai seal in the lower right-hand corner. Japan, c. 1870–1880. A COLOURED AND GOLD UCHIWA-SHAPED PAINTING ON PAPER BY KYÔSAI, JAPAN, CA. 1870–1880. HEIGHT (CENTRE) 20.7 CM (8 1/8 IN.) - WIDTH (MAX) 24 CM (9 7/16 IN.) Published in: . Exhibition ‘Kawanabe Kyôsai, Commemoration of the Centenary of his Death’, Ibaraki Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, 18 Nov–24 Dec 1989, p. 53, ill. 51 (actually ill. 37), (in Japanese). It is stated on p. 138, fig. 37, Bernard Rousseau Collection; . Oikawa Shigeru, “Uchiwa-e Kurozuka ningyô”, Kyôsai 41 (August 1990), p. 2, frontispiece; . Exhibition “Demon of Painting – The Art of Kawanabe Kyôsai”, British Museum, 1 Dec. 1993–13 Feb. 1994, no. 52, Bernard Rousseau Collection; . “Night Parade of Hell Creatures: Bizarre Demonic Art by Kyosai”, Ukiyo-e Master Series. Ed. Jack Hunter, Shinbaku Books, 2013. About the artist: Kyôsai was only six years old when he became a pupil of Utagawa Kuniyoshi, alongside other pupils such as Yoshitoshi, who joined him in 1850. He also studied the painting of the Kano school as well as other artistic movements, which gave rise to an eclectic style that varied throughout his life. His legendary fondness for sake probably contributed, according to some, to the eccentricity of some of his works as well as to his depictions of demonic creatures. He is regarded both as one of the last great masters of ukiyo-e and as one of the first modern Japanese painters. His works can be found in numerous Western and Japanese museums, and several exhibitions and books have been dedicated to him.