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...
Category
2010s Edo Thaddeus Radell Mixed Media
MaterialsPaper, Crayon, Oil Crayon, Graphite
