No Kings!

         “No Kings” should be the one thing every single person in the United States agrees on, regardless of political affiliation.  After all, that’s kind of our thing; we’ve been rejecting the unchecked power of kings for the past two hundred and fifty years.  So in honor of this perfectly straightforward and non-controversial sentiment, people all across the nation will be gathering for rallies this weekend, to celebrate the USA’s king-free state.  I mention this today because printmaking actually played an important role in the American Revolution and its lead-up.  Remember “Join or Die” and Paul Revere’s version of the “Boston Massacre”?  But when I was looking around for block prints on the subject to share, I found something much more fabulous.

        In 1861, after Japan had been forcibly “opened” to the west, author Kanagaki Robun wrote Osanaetoki Bankokubanashi (Children’s Illustrated International Tales) which is a history of America, illustrated with wonderful wood block prints by Utagawa Yoshitora.  In this version of the

American War for Independence, the idea of a “republic” without a king was something our author struggled to get his head - and his language - around, but he didn’t let that cramp his style.  Let’s start with George Washington, who famously refused to be made king, or even to be president for a third term, knowing that a too-powerful “charismatic” leader wasn’t in the best interests of the nation and its people - just sayin’.  The first image above shows Washington shooting an arrow from his place beside the Goddess of America.  Nothing too crazy there, on an allegorical level.  The second image, however, is fantastic in every way as

Washington punches a tiger.  I regret that I can’t read Japanese because I really wish I knew a little more about what was going on here!  (Thanks to Japanese historian Nick Kapur for the information I do have.)

        Next we have John Adams stabbing a giant snake in a spread that merits breaking out the red ink.  Apparently there’s a whole subplot in which Adams is out for a picnic with his elderly mother when - surprise!- along comes another giant serpent and devours her!  Adams asks for assistance from a mountain fairy (shown in the next image), who summons a giant eagle to help Adams slay the monster…  I don’t remember learning that part in US history!

        In a slightly less fantastical image, Adams directs Benjamin Franklin where to fire his hand-held cannon.  There are also a number of other illustrations that include monsters, and I really wish I could read what’s going on in them.  I mean, what’s going on aboard this ship?!?

        These wood block prints are mostly black and white, with just a few featuring red and blue ink.  That means they’re relatively low-budget efforts, but nevertheless the actual carving is very detailed and full of verve.  I enjoyed them enormously, and I hope you do, too!

        I myself will not be at a No Kings rally because instead I’ll be at Roslindale Open Studios this weekend (details here: come see me if you’re in the area!)  But I will have a couple of little items to signal my solidarity with Washington, Adams, Franklin, (a mountain fairy?), and all the others who have worked so hard through two and a half centuries to keep the democratic experiment alive and moving forward - staying strong against the attacks of metaphorical tigers, serpents, and other monsters.

[Pictures: Six wood block prints by Utagawa Yoshitora from Osanaetoki Bankokubanashi by Kanagaki Robun, 1861 (Images from Waseda University).]