%C2%A9 Tanaka Ry%C5%8Dhei
Etching and aquatint; ink on paperexpand_more
Gift of Sue Y.S. Kimm and Seymour Gruffermanexpand_more 2019.78.315
The four prints in this case were among twelve selected to accompany the English translation of A Fool’s Life by Akutagawa Ryūnosuke (1892–1927). Discovered and published after his suicide, A Fool’s Life consists of 51 fleeting sections, some based on his real life and others imaginary. Tanaka did not create the prints expressly for Akutagawa or the story; the publisher, Mushinsha, had requested to reproduce Tanaka’s prints as illustrations for the translation because they were in the publisher’s collection. The everyday sights in Tanaka’s prints—a retaining wall; a handful of dried fish; a massive tree; a freshly picked bamboo shoot— echo the protagonist’s growing solitude.
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© Tanaka Ryōhei