Egon Schiele

Edith Schiele sitting with a Fur Stole

around 1915/16

Bijin-ga series II (nº 02) Title: “Hairdresser” The interest in this picture is focused on the hairstyles of both women, a hairdresser leaning forward with a bow of intense black color, arranging his client's especially long hair. The ways of gripping both the hair and the comb, making it slide through the ocher-scented kimono of the customer, decorated with sea stars, stand out. Highlighting with great detail the drawing of loose hair on the obi of white lines on a red background, and the kosode of plum color. This image is part of the Bijin-ga Series (“Pretty women”) drawn by Mario BGil, based in the Kitigawa Utamaro woodblock print "Hairdresser" (1798-1799), 39,8 x 26,8 cm. Museum of Fine Arts. Boston-USA. Utamaro drawn a series of twelve prints whose themes were related to the manual works of women, and this "Hairdresser" is one of them. Mario BGil reproduces the seal of the censor (Kiwame) and writes his own signature, Mario BGil, in Japanese, with the date 14 (2014). The mesaurements of the drawing are 76 x 56 cm. (29,92 x 22,05 in.), with a painted surface of 67 x 49,5 cm. With his work on the bijing-ga series, Mario BGil wanted to embellish, give brilliance and volume to the images presented by japanese artist Kitigawa Utamaro in those beautiful engravings, ennobled with the patina of time, which have served as inspiration. The result obtained is almost life-size portraits, endowed with strong chromaticism and valuable contrasts, all enhanced, in turn, with the volume provided by the weight and rigidity of the paper, and its thick texture (Fabriano Artistico “grana grosso”, 640g/m2; the thickness and hardness of the paper makes it necessary to transport it without rolling). In this way, Mario BGil pays tribute to his admired artist and offers us a new and enriched vision of this popular facet of oriental art from the 18th and 19th centuries. ABOUT THE ARTIST Mario BGil is a self-taught artist who for years has combined his creative activity with his work in the business world, away from commercial art galleries. Man of very diverse interests and great artistic sensitivity, studied Art History and in 2012, a deep interest in oriental art was awakened in him so that he began to study the great masters of Japanese Ukiyo-e prints, who had such an influence on the European avant-garde of the late 19th century. The discovery of Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806), a key figure in the metropolitan culture of Edo (now Tokyo), and a point of reference in the history of Japanese engraving...

BIJIN-GA SERIES XVIII (Nº 18) Title: Obvious Love (Arawaruru Koi) This image is part of the bijin-ga series (“Pretty women”) drawn by Mario BGil, based in the Kitigawa Utamaro woodblock print Obvious Love (Arawaruru Koi) (1793-94); 38,8 x 26,2 cm.. Art Institute Chicago, USA. A sensual woman seems to care little that her kimono is open, exposing a breast. Her hair is in disarray , the hairpin at the front about to fall and she holds one of the hairpins in her left hand. She appears to be looking down outside the frame of the picture, perhaps in mid-conversation. The term “arawaruru” refers to a love so wholehearted that it expresses itself in the lover´s face and mannerisms. In the 1780's and 90's the publisher Tsutaya Juzaburo and the designer Kitagawa Utamaro worked together on the production of many woodblock prints, most of them of the bijin-ga type. One of their most popular productions was a set of images that purported to depict psychological classifications of women - 'fickle', 'interesting', etc.. Perhaps in response to this success, they then came up with something similar - a set of prints...

Bijin-ga series XXIX (Nº 29) Title: Bijin Ôkubi Upper torso portrait of a Japanese beauty, depicted with a graceful hand gesture and an ornate headdress. Her soft round features contrast with the colourful sharp angles of the collars of her kimono. Her elongated oval face, straight nose and red butterfly lips are typical of the prototype of a beautiful woman, Bijin-ga. Her upper torso and face occupying the central section of the picture show a composition type that became known in time as Large-head pictures, or Okubi-e; compositions with which Utamaro became a model for generations of woodblock artists. This image is part of the Bijin-ga series (“Pretty women”) drawn by Mario BGil, based in the Kitigawa Utamaro woodblock print...

LOVE FOR A STREET-WALKER Crayon, graphite, pencil on paper. Measurements: (H) 76 x (W) 56 cm. Attractive portrait of an Edo prostitute hurrying through the streets. She wears a black kimono over layers of colored kimono, tucking her hand into the "obi" at her waist. A white scarf is draped over her head, the edge caught between her teeth, and loose wisps of hair framed her face. There is an impressive contrast between the black kimono and the yellow-orange of collars, sleeves and "obi", balancing the composition the pastel pink of the scarf that covers her head. This image is part of the "bijin-ga" series, Pretty Women, drawn by Mario BGil, based in the Kitigawa Utamaro woodblock print "Love for a street-walker" (1795), 37,2 x 24,6 cm. The British Musem. London, UK. The artist reproduces the seal of the censor (Kiwame) and from the original publisher ("Tsutaya", climbing leaf)), between the two, the signature of Mario BGil written in Japanese, with the date 14 (2014). The mesaurements of the drawing are 76 x 56 cm. (29,92 x 22,05 in.), with a painted surface of 67 x 49,5 cm. With his work on the "bijing-ga" series, Mario BGil wanted to embellish, give brilliance and volume to the images presented by japanese artist Kitigawa Utamaro in those beautiful engravings, ennobled with the patina of time, which have served as inspiration. The result obtained is almost life-size portraits, endowed with strong chromaticism and valuable contrasts, all enhanced, in turn, with the volume provided by the weight and rigidity of the paper, and its thick texture (Fabriano Artistico “grana grosso”, 640g/m2; the thickness and hardness of the paper makes it necessary to transport it without rolling). In this way, Mario BGil pays tribute to his admired artist and offers us a new and enriched vision of this popular facet of oriental art from the 18th and 19th centuries. ABOUT THE ARTIST Mario BGil is a self-taught artist who for years has combined his creative activity with his work in the family business, away from commercial art galleries. In 2012, a deep interest in oriental art was awakened in him and he began to study the great masters of Japanese Ukiyo-e prints, who had such an influence on the European avant-garde of the late 19th century. The discovery of Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806), a key figure in the metropolitan culture of Edo (now Tokyo), and a point of reference in the history of Japanese engraving...