Yoshitoshi's Thirty-Six Ghosts - In this incredible series, Yoshitoshi illustrated thirty-six of his favorite tales from Japanese history and legend. From charming folk stories to bloody tales of revenge, the series is the work of the artist's maturity and Yoshitoshi explores the subjects with great subtlety and psychological perception. As interesting to Yoshitoshi as the ghosts and monsters, are the human beings to whom they appear. Yoshitoshi was immensely popular in the last years of his life and the ghost series was greeted with great enthusiasm and a rush to collect among the Japanese public.

Today, prints from Yoshitoshi's Thirty-six Ghosts series are some of the most highly sought after prints on the market. A wonderful area of collecting for the Yoshitoshi enthusiast.

Fujiwara no Hidesato Shooting the Centipede at the Dragon King's Palace, No. 18 - A wonderful illustration from the story of Hidesato and the Dragon King. One day, while crossing a bridge, an imposing dragon with fiery breath blocked his path. He continued walking, calmly traversing the entire length of the fearsome dragon. The dragon turned out to be the Dragon King in disguise, looking for someone brave enough to save his realm from a giant centipede. Hidesato followed the Dragon King to his realm under the sea and killed the giant centipede by shooting it in the eye. He was rewarded with a magical bag of rice that never ran out, as well as a bolt of cloth that never ended. In this terrific illustration, Hidesato prepares to fire the killing arrow at the colossal centipede that is bearing down upon the Dragon King's palace. The Dragon King's daughter is shown cowering behind him. A fantastic depiction of this classic old tale. Beautifully detailed with embossing in the white pants, and burnishing in the black court cap, arrow quiver, and bow.

Artist - Yoshitoshi (1839 - 1892)

Image Size - 13" x 9" + margins as shown

Condition - This print with excellent color and detail as shown. Backed with paper. Slight toning, a few small spots, light crease at corner. Please see photos for details. Good overall.