Imasama 12 months Toyokuni

The Edo fan painting "Twelve Months in the Style of the Present" was produced in 1822 by the publisher Ibasen as a polychrome fan painting (uchiwa-e) by Toyokuni I, a master artist in the style of the Utagawa School. The prints were printed and produced by the publisher Ibasen based on the only existing woodblocks of this series, the "Twelve Months in the Modern Style" series by Toyokuni I.

Interesting Features of the Twelve Months of Ima-Sama

Shigezo Suzuki (Researcher on Japanese early modern literature and art)

Toyokuni I's series of fan paintings, "Imasama: Twelve Months," is a unique and interesting set of fan paintings throughout the history of fan paintings. Different from the usual introductions of seasonal scenes, this series of fan paintings takes into consideration the characteristics of the fan form, and presents a novel idea that makes the most of this character. In other words, the composition of the front and back of each month's fan is organically combined, and the result can be appreciated. By simply turning the handle, the screen can be instantly and easily reversed. The interesting aspect of this series lies in the compositional design in which the figures are arranged from the front to the back of the fan in such a way as to create the illusion of a certain three-dimensional effect by flipping the fan around and around, with one part of the figure doubled over.

The harmony of the traditional elegance and the freshness of the idea is not limited to the mere appreciation of the beauty of the paintings, but also provides the enjoyment of what might be described as the spirit of Edo period modeling.