河鍋暁斎記念美術館を訪ねたのは2017年9月、5年前のことだ。幕末から明治前半にかけて活躍した浮世絵師、日本画家だ。「茶会を催すドクロ」「妖しいほど美しい地獄大夫」「美女の前に脂下がる閻魔」 奇才といわれその画風は強烈だ。おどろかせる、そしてよろこばせる絵を描き、「画鬼」を自称したという。
この小説は、暁斎の娘とよ・暁翆を中心に話はすすむ。明治22年暁斎の葬儀には沢山の参列者、後援者が集まるが、暁斎の息子でとよの兄・周三郎はおざなりに顔をだすだけで、自宅で絵を描いている。暁斎が死んだ後、とよも絵筆をとるが悩む。時代は明治となり、それまでの浮世絵や狩野派の日本画は古いものとして、人気が落ちて行く。父の画風を、引き継ぐか、新しい絵をめざすか、そして父を超えられないと悩む。明治新時代となって、文明開化により社会と町が変わってゆく。女子美術学校の講師となったり、サラリーマンとの結婚、出産、離婚、子育てをへて、彼女は生きて行く。そして大正12年の関東大震災に遭遇する。悲惨なる光景が広がっている。(――お父っつあんなら) きっと(家族のいる)家に戻ろうなどとは微塵も考えず、画帳と絵筆を片手に、炎の渦巻く中へ駆けて行っただろう。
暁斎というおおきな星、落ちてなお、息子と娘の生きざまを描いた小説。
Toko Sawada "Stars have fallen, still"
I visited the Kawanabe Gyosai Memorial Museum in Warabi City in September 2017, five years ago. An Ukiyo-e artist and Japanese painter who was active from the end of the Edo period to the first half of the Meiji era. "Skull hosting a tea ceremony" "Mysteriously beautiful hell lord" " Enma is good at grinning in front of a beautiful woman" It is said to be a genius and its style is intense. He drew a surprising and delightful picture and called himself a "painting demon".
This novel focuses on Gyousai's daughter, Toyo Gyosui. Many attendees and supporters gather at the funeral of Gyosai in Meiji 22, but Gyosai's son, Toyo's older brother, Shuzaburo, just attends the funeral and draws pictures at home. After Gyosai's death, Toyo also takes a paintbrush but is worried. The era became the Meiji era, and the Ukiyo-e and Japanese paintings of the Kano school until then became old and became less popular. She wonders if she will take over her father's style of painting, aim for a new painting, and cannot surpass her father. In the new era of the Meiji era, the society and town changed due to the civilization. She lives by becoming a lecturer at Joshibi University of Art and Design, marrying a salaryman, giving birth, divorcing, and raising children. And she encounters the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. A miserable sight is spreading. (――If my dad ) He would have run into the swirling flames with a picture book and a paintbrush in his hand, without thinking about going home (with his family).
A novel about the life of a boy and daughter, where a big star called Kyosai has fallen and still lives.