Kyosai's Skeleton

This skeleton was drawn by Kawanabe Kyosai, a Japanese painter active from the end of the Edo period to the Meiji era. It is a drawing from a page in "Kyōsai Manga," a collection of casual sketches.

In contrast to the European "Dance of Death" that I introduced previously, the skeletons here look strangely joyful, dressed in all sorts of different costumes, entertaining the viewer.

Kyosai called himself the Demon of Painting, and lived up to his name by leaving behind a wide variety of paintings with a greedy and rebellious attitude. His style ranged from vibrant masterpieces filled with confidence and spirit, which represent what Japanese painting should be, to humorous and light-hearted works like this skeleton.

The skillful linework that expresses human movement with a body made of only bones and no flesh, despite the comical atmosphere, demonstrates the artist's solid technique.

The skeletons' human-like gestures, as if celebrating life, show a view of life and death that does not view physical death as absolute, unlike the "dance of death" which resembles a hollow laughter at the end of despair.

Living in a modern age where it has become commonplace to keep death at bay, many of us will be moved by the skeletons that come to life through Kyosai's free-flowing brushstrokes.