Lively Strokes and Dancing Lines: Hokusai’s Simplified Drawings

Introduction

The term ryakuga (“simplified drawings”) refers to images whose subjects are portrayed using abbreviated shapes and concise brushstrokes. Random Drawings by Hokusai [Hokusai manga] is said to have taken inspiration from Kuwagata Keisai’s The Abbreviated Drawing Style [Ryakugashiki], whose preface contains the following commentary: “[These images] capture the spirit without relying on form. Their ‘abbreviated drawing style’ omits what can be left out without fixating on form.” These words show that Keisai’s ryakuga were not considered merely simplified depictions but were rather thought to reveal something essential about their subjects despite eliding the details.
Shortly after turning fifty, Katsushika Hokusai began devoting his energies to the production of copybooks like Random Drawings that frequently included ryakuga. The style was well-suited for copybooks as it allowed the inclusion of multiple smaller, simplified depictions of subjects on a single page. For example, A Picture Syllabary [Ehon hayabiki], which introduces various subjects organized according to the Japanese syllabary, contains between thirty and forty ryakuga images on each spread. This abbreviated style was not, however, chosen only because it made it possible to cover many subjects in limited page space.
Hokusai’s Modern Designs for Combs and Tobacco Pipes [Imayō sekkin hinagata], a collection of patterns believed to have been put to practical use by craftsmen of the day, includes ryakuga. The fact that it contains such simplified drawings suggests that the people of Edo appreciated ryakuga as something with their own aesthetic appeal.
Although completely unlike the meticulous depictions Hokusai produced to illustrate text-heavy yomihon books, the simplified forms that result from paring away detail makes such ryakuga interesting in ways that continue to resonate today.
This exhibition introduces the world of ryakuga through a selection of images of people, plants, and animals drawn from the museum’s collection of woodblock-printed books. We hope you enjoy the way they retain and highlight the character of their subjects even while trimming away detail.