Shume Urabe Suetake Meeting a Ghost with a Child

A hand-painted replica of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi’s masterpiece Shume Urabe Suetake Meeting a Ghost with a Child, meticulously crafted by professional artists to capture the true essence of the original. Each piece is created with museum-quality canvas and rare mineral pigments, carefully painted by experienced artists with delicate brushstrokes and rich, layered colors to perfectly recreate the texture of the original artwork. Unlike machine-printed reproductions, this hand-painted version brings the painting to life, infused with the artist’s emotions and skill in every stroke. Whether for personal collection or home decoration, it instantly elevates the artistic atmosphere of any space.

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839–1892) was a prominent Japanese ukiyo-e artist, known for his innovative and dramatic woodblock prints. One of his works, Shume Urabe Suetake Meeting a Ghost with a Child, is part of his celebrated series New Forms of Thirty-Six Ghosts (Shinkei Sanjūrokkaisen), which was created between 1889 and 1892. This series reflects Yoshitoshi's fascination with supernatural themes and his mastery in depicting eerie and otherworldly subjects.

The print portrays a scene from Japanese folklore or historical legend, featuring Shume Urabe Suetake, a samurai and retainer of the famous warrior Minamoto no Yorimitsu (also known as Raikō). Suetake is depicted encountering a ghostly figure accompanied by a child. The ghost, often interpreted as a yūrei (a spirit from Japanese folklore), is rendered with an ethereal and haunting quality, characteristic of Yoshitoshi's ability to evoke the supernatural. The child, whose identity is not explicitly detailed, adds an additional layer of mystery to the composition.

Yoshitoshi's use of color, line, and composition in this print demonstrates his mature style, blending traditional ukiyo-e techniques with modern influences. The background, often dark and atmospheric, enhances the spectral quality of the scene, while the figures are depicted with intricate detail and expressive features. This work exemplifies Yoshitoshi's skill in storytelling through visual art, as well as his ability to capture the cultural fascination with ghosts and legends during the late Edo and early Meiji periods.

The series New Forms of Thirty-Six Ghosts was one of Yoshitoshi's final major works, created during a time when ukiyo-e was declining in popularity due to the rise of photography and Western art forms. Despite these challenges, Yoshitoshi's prints were well-received, and he is now regarded as one of the last great masters of the ukiyo-e tradition. His works, including Shume Urabe Suetake Meeting a Ghost with a Child, continue to be celebrated for their artistic and historical significance.

This specific print, like others in the series, draws on themes of bravery, the supernatural, and the interplay between the living and the dead, which were common in Japanese art and literature. However, the exact source or story that inspired this particular scene is not definitively documented, leaving some aspects of its narrative open to interpretation.