Page 74 - Japanese Art September 2017 New York

1185 1185

PROPERTY OF ANOTHER OWNER Uragami Gyokudo (1745-1820) is one of the
most fascinating artists of the Edo period.
1183 Though not a professional painter--he
prided himself more on his expertise with
ANONYMOUS the qin (a Chinese zither-like instrument)--
Chinese Poem by Yoshishige no Yasutane his paintings are surprisingly in tune with a
Momoyama (1573-1615) or Edo (1615- twentieth- or twenty-first-century sensibility.
1868) period, 16th/17th century Landscapes that turn and twist, mountain
A fragment from a handscroll, ink on peaks that tilt, odd circular “rock”-like forms
decorated paper with ink and metallic that both define and defy nature, brushwork
pigments, now mounted as a hanging not merely descriptive or simply abstract--
scroll; the seven-character Chinese couplet Gyokudo’s landscapes captivate the most
inscribed over a shita-e (underpainting) of jaded modern eye that disparages all but
plum and bamboo, the poem authored contemporary art. Seemly simple, his execution
by Yoshishige no Yasutane (933-1002) is extremely sophisticated, recalling the best
listed as number 435 in the Wakan roeishu of Chinese literati painting. The brushwork,
(Collection of Japanese and Chinese Poems the interweaving and overlaying of wet and
for Recitation) dry brushstrokes, the use of heavy and light
With an inscribed wooden tomobako storage ink, and the sense of abandon despite his
box 8 1/4 x 7in (21 x 17.8cm) image total control of the medium, are accompanied
52 7/8 x 16 3/8in (134.5 x 41.5cm) overall by a sensibility that conveys an intensity and
1183 monumentality to the smallest of works. All in a
US$1,000 - 1,500 state of continual flux, always intriguing, never
resting but still a with sense of tranquility, the
Poem: 華山有馬蹄猶露 傅野無人路漸滋 artistic image of this visionary still resonates
without boundaries in today’s world.
Yoshishige no Yasutane (933-1002),
a member of the Kamo family which An excellent monograph on this extraordinary
specialized in yin-yang theory, was a scholar- artist is presented in James Cahill, Scholar
official of the mid-Heian period and author Painters of Japan: The Nanga School, New
of the Chiteiki (Record of a Pond Pavilion), a York, Asia Society, 1972, pp.71-86.
famous parallel-prose Chinese work of 982.
PROPERTY OF VARIOUS OWNERS
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF
FRANK KORN, TOKYO 1185
ANONYMOUS KANO SCHOOL
1184 Autumn Flowers, Blossoming Peony
URAGAMI GYOKUDO (1745-1820) Edo period (1615-1868)
Landscape with Figure Two folding fan paintings, ink, color, gold
An album leaf mounted as a hanging scroll, pigment and gold leaf on paper, framed and
ink on paper; entitled Kantei shokushin (Base glazed; the first decorated with a butterfly
of a waterfall, gathering firewood), signed hovering above seasonal autumn foliage,
Gyokudo, with one seal Gyokudo kinshi consisting of chrysanthemum, hibiscus, bush
(impressed upside down) clover, Chinese bellflower, valerian and lilies; the
With two wood storage boxes, one with second centered by flowering peony and prunus
collector’s inscription issuing from lichen-encrusted rocks bordering
10 x 6 7/8in (25.5 x 17.6cm) a meandering stream, a solitary butterfly
silhouetted against billowing gold clouds
1184 US$15,000 - 25,000 18 and 18 3/4in (45.7 and 47.7cm) lengths
16 x 26in (40.8 x 66.2cm) frames

US$2,000 - 3,000
72 | BONHAMS