Page 88 - 2019 September 11th Bonhams Lewis Collection Japanese and Korean Art NYC

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MORITA SHIRYU (1912-1998) Provenance
Ryu wa ryu o shiru (Dragon knows dragon), 1967 Previously sold, Butterfield and Butterfield, San Francisco, November
Large four-panel screen with three characters brushed in aluminum 16-17, 1994, lot 2314
flake pigment in polyvinyl acetate medium and yellow alkyd varnish
on paper Inspired by an elementary-school teacher to assume the name Shiryu,
Artist’s certificate on reverse titled Ryu wa ryu o shiru (Dragon knows literally “Child Dragon,” Morita used the three characters seen on this
dragon), signed Morita Shiryu, sealed Sei no in and dated 1967 lot as the subject for the first major calligraphy he exhibited overseas,
44 1/2 x 88 3/16in (113 x 224cm) at the fifth São Paulo Bienal in 1959, and would continue to produce
variations on this theme for much of the rest of his career, often in
$60,000-80,000 characters that are so barely readable as to resemble contemporary
Western works of abstract art. Each calligraphy was a personal
expression of Morita’s commitment to the Buddhist principle of self-
knowledge, as well as an assertion of his dragon-like artistic ability.

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