About the Artist & Series
Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831–1889) was a prolific and wildly inventive artist of the late Edo to early Meiji era, renowned for his biting satire, mischievous humor, and bold imagination.  Often called the “demon painter,” Kyōsai seamlessly blended classical Japanese aesthetics with caricature, political commentary, and ribald humor.
 
This particular shunga woodblock print series titled The Great Tail (Ō-Shiri Monogatari, c. 1870) is one of Kyōsai’s rare and highly sought-after shunga (erotic art) series.  Unlike the more serene and intimate works of earlier shunga masters, Kyōsai’s approach bursts with energy and comic absurdity.  His figures are exaggerated, animated, and sometimes grotesque—mocking social conventions while celebrating the raw, unrestrained aspects of human desire.
 
This shunga woodblock print series captures Kyōsai’s signature mix of eroticism, wit, and theatrical chaos.  Each image tells a bawdy tale, revealing the artist’s playful rebellion against both artistic and societal norms of his time.  
 
Shunga picture measures 11.5 cm x 17.5 cm.  Good colors and impressions.  Decent condition with some wear, soiling, bit of creasing, stain at bottom, album backing on reverse.
 
Floating in Erotic Repose
In this playful, dreamlike composition, naked men drift off while their relaxed bodies casually entwine.  Some rest their heads languidly on another’s thigh or penis, blurring the line between comfort and intimacy.  On the right, one man pours liquid from a basin, while another reclines in serene satisfaction.
 
Entirely homoerotic, the scene hints at a quiet camaraderie of pleasure—less a frenzied orgy and more a languid, shared indulgence.  Kyōsai captures both humor and tenderness, revealing desire as something fluid, communal, and unbound by conventional formality.