1847-1915
Illustration of the Landing and Advance to Weihaiwei
(Ikaiei joriku shingun no zu)
signed on right sheet, Kiyochika, with artist's seal Kiyochika, dated on the left margin, Meiji nijuhachinen - gatsu- ka (Meiji 8 [1895], - month, - day, followed by the publisher's cartouche of Takekawa Seikichi (Sawamuraya Seikichi of Seieido), ca. 1895
oban tate-e triptych 14 3/4 by 29 3/4 in., 37.6 by 75.5 cm
On January 20th of 1895, Japanese troops began to land at Rongcheng Bay on the Shandong Peninsula near the naval base of Weihaiwei where the Chinese Navy had regrouped after the fall of Port Arthur in November of 1894. They faced a difficult journey in harsh weather over snow-covered roads to lay siege to the Chinese. Kiyochika illustrates a Japanese commander on horseback, with two officers standing at attention to his left and right, and the background filled with a line of soldiers in formation and ready to begin their march. The snow settles in clumps on the horse's protective blanket and on every available surface of the officer's great coats (lined with fur). The troops in the background are barely visible through the blur of grey and white snowflakes, their feet lost in the drifts and fog.
References:
Nathan Chaikin, The Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), 1983, pp. 98-101 (re: Weihaiwei Campaign), cat. no. 82, color photo p. 193
Louise E. Virgin, et. al., Japan at the Dawn of the Modern Age: Woodbock Prints from the Meiji Era, 1868-1912, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2001, p. 103, cat. no. 55
Philip K. Hu, ed., et al., Conflicts of Interest: Art and War in Modern Japan, Saint Louis Art Museum, 2016, p. 145, no. 51
Art Institute of Chicago
Harvard Art Museum, object no. 1944.5.6
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession no. 68.805-7
New York Public Library, no. 101983a-c
Saint Louis Art Museum, object no. 216:2010a-c
Waseda University, nos. 201-3596, 201-3597
(inv. no. C-3025)
price: Sold