Hosoe Eikoh
Kamaitachi #31

Kamaitachi #31
Kamaitachi #31
Kamaitachi #31
ArtistJapanese, born 1933
CultureJapanese
Titles
  • Kamaitachi #31
Date1968, printed c. 1969
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 15 1/16 × 21 11/16 in. (38.2 × 55.1 cm)
Sheet: 15 13/16 × 22 1/16 in. (40.2 × 56 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the S. I. Morris Photography Endowment
Object number2013.331
Non exposé

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Object Type
DescriptionEikoh Hosoe emerged in the experimental photography movement in the 1960s in Japan, particularly as a member of the photography collective VIVO that was established in 1959. Hosoe is known for his psychologically charged images, often exploring subjects such as death, erotic obsession, and irrationality. For his 1969 photobook Kamaitachi, with the choreographer and dancer of butoh Tatsumi Hijikata as a model, Hosoe created a series of images that reference stories of a supernatural being—“sickle-toothed weasel”—that haunted the countryside of Hosoe’s childhood in northern Japan. In the book, Hijikata is seen as a wandering ghost mirroring the stark landscape and confronting farmers and children.
ProvenanceArtist, Tokyo, Japan, c. 1969; Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 2012; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, 2013
Exhibition History"For a New World to Come: Experiments with Photography in Japanese Art, 1968-1978," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 8 March - 12 July 2015
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Signed in pencil on verso lower edge: (Japanese characters) Eikoh Hosoe

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

Embrace #48
Hosoe Eikoh
1970
Gelatin silver print
2002.1326
Embrace #3
Hosoe Eikoh
1970
Gelatin silver print
2002.1327
Man and Woman #23
Hosoe Eikoh
1959
Gelatin silver print
2002.1322
Embrace #28
Hosoe Eikoh
1970
Gelatin silver print
2002.1323
Embrace #15
Hosoe Eikoh
1971
Gelatin silver print
2002.1325
Embrace #7
Hosoe Eikoh
1971
Gelatin silver print
2002.1324
cropped recto of sheet
Hosoe Eikoh
1970
Gelatin silver print
81.194
Barakei #29
Hosoe Eikoh
1962, printed c. 1970
Gelatin silver print
2013.330
Mini-Graph
Hosoe Eikoh
1982
Gelatin silver print
91.717
A Rose and a Breast
Hosoe Eikoh
1962
Gelatin silver print
91.715
Man and Woman #23
Hosoe Eikoh
1959
Gelatin silver print
91.716
Simon in Riverside Field
Hosoe Eikoh
1971
Gelatin silver print
99.100