本研究は、主として庶民文化の所産と目される卑俗な江戸期風俗画に含まれている、戯画的表現のみられる絵画・版画等の資料を、美術史学の視点から戯画の歴史のなかにとらえ直し、とくにその表現や思想について考察するものである。具体的には、対象とする時代を１９世紀幕末期に絞り、往時制作された絵画や版画、さらには文学書の挿絵などから、戯画的表現のみられる画像情報を多数収集した。
第一には、従来詳細に論じられていない文学書挿図、具体的には長編の近世小説である読本に含まれる浮世絵師作画の膨大な挿絵から、戯画的な表現が認められる未報告の画像を数多く収集整理し、表現の特色について考察を加えた。ついで第二には、とくに幕末期に人気の浮世絵師北斎と広重について、それぞれがとりあげる同一題材の図像を比較対照する試みを実施し、戯画表現の在り方の差異を探った（一部は成果として出版済）。
考察の結果、まず第一の読本の挿絵（基本的にはモノクロ印刷物）は、歌舞伎の舞台を描く芝居絵に近似する情景説明を重視する表現が多くとられるものの、稀に認められる戯画的表現には文学本文の行間を補うべく、哄笑を誘う誇張の効いた描写や、人物の仕草・表情などに滑稽な描写が試みられる傾向の強いことが看取された。文学が主で挿図は従という制約もあり、戯画表現をとる場合にも相対的に自由度が低いことは、事前の予想と合致した。
つぎに第二の北斎と広重が試みた戯画の絵画や版画では、人物画や花鳥画などあらゆる主題の作品において、戯画的な表現を多く探し当てることができた。その分析を通して、人の目を楽しませる戯画にも単なるカリカチュアライズのみならず、ときにシニカル、クリティカルな視線、さらにはエロティックな視線などが含まれること、そしてそれらが絵師たち個々人の志向する表現に沿う形で作画され、前述の読本挿絵に比べると遥かに自由度が高く、また表現も豊かであることが確認できた。日本における戯画の歴史のなかでは、最も表現力豊かな作品が生み出されたのが江戸時代後期であることを、再認識する結果となった。
This study captures the material of paintings and prints with fantasy-like expressions contained in Edo period genre paintings, which are considered to be mainly a product of common people's culture, from the viewpoint of art history. In particular, it examines their expressions and ideas. Specifically, the target era was narrowed down to the end of the 19th century, and Image information where only caricature expressions can be seen was collected from paintings and prints that were produced in the past, as well as illustrations of literature books.
First, there is an unreported illustration of a literary book that has not been discussed in detail in the past, specifically, many illustrations by Ukiyo-e artist, included in a reading book, which is a long-form novel in a premodern era. A large number of images were collected and organized, and I considered the characteristics of these expressions. Secondly, especially for the popular Ukiyo-e artists Hokusai and Hiroshige in the late Tokugawa period, we tried to compare and contrast the iconography of the same material taken by each, and explored the differences in the style of caricature expression.
As a result of consideration, first of all, in the illustrations of yomihon (basically monochrome prints), many expressions that emphasize the scene description that approximates the play picture depicting the stage of Kabuki are taken, but rarely recognized caricatures. In order to make up for the gap between lines in the literary texts, it was found that there is a strong tendency to try to make exaggerated depictions that induce laughter and humorous depictions in the gestures and facial expressions of people. Literature is the main factor, and illustrations are subordinate, so that the degree of freedom is relatively low even in the case of caricatures, which is consistent with our expectations.
Second, in the paintings and prints of caricatures that Hokusai and Hiroshige tried, we were able to find many caricatures in works on all subjects, such as portraits and flower and bird paintings. Through that analysis, the caricatures that entertain the human eye include not only mere caricatures, but also sometimes cynical, critical gazes, and even erotic gazes, and these are the expressions that the painters want. It was drawn in line with the artist's wishes and proved to be much more flexible and expressive than the illustrations for reading the book above. In the history of caricatures in Japan, it was reaffirmed that the most expressive works were produced in the late Edo period.