Hashimoto Sanai from the series
Thirty Great Loyalists of Early Modern Times, 1942
by Shimada Bokusen
IHL Cat. #1968
Description
Shimada depicts the samurai philosopher Hashimoto Sanai (1834-1859) shortly before his execution at the age of 25. He sits at his desk reading his treatise Keihatsuroku 啓發録 (A Book of Resolutions or Treatise on Enlightenment) which he wrote at the age of 15 in 1848. Written on the panel against his bookcase in the upper right is 急流中底之柱、即是大丈夫之心 , a saying that Hashimoto treasured.
Thirty Great Loyalists of Early Modern Times
The eleven extant prints comprising the seemingly incomplete series Thirty Great Loyalists of Early Modern Times depict figures active in the mid/late Edo era and early Meiji era who displayed great loyalty to the Emperor and, thereby, the nation. Issued in 1942 when the war in the Pacific was raging, the patriotic theme of these prints was clear. Nine of the eleven extant prints portray a famous incident or anecdote in a Great Loyalist's life and two prints deal specifically with the 1860 assassination of the shōgunate's Chief Minister Ii Naosuke (1815-1860). Each print was issued in a folder which also contained a written commentary.
Print Details
Artist Profile
Shimada Bokusen 島田墨仙 (1867-1943) - son and pupil of Maruyama school painter Shimada Sekkoku (1828-1884), he was to go on to study with Hashimoto Gahō (1835-1908) a Kanō school painter who was instrumental in the development of a new type of national painting called nihonga...