Page 39 - Bonhams September 11 2018 New York Japanese & Korean Works of Art

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1080 Provenance
UTAGAWA TOYOKUNI (1769-1825) Purchased in Kyoto in 1975
Beauties after the Bath
Edo period (1615-1868), 19th century Machi-eshi, literally “town painter,” is a generic term for painters
Hanging scroll, painted in ink and color on silk depicting women who worked independently in urban centers, not sponsored by a
after the bath and a high-ranking courtesan with attendants, signed particular patron or official academy. Although some appear to have
Utagawa Toyokuni ga and sealed Toyokuni received training in established painting schools, such as the Tosa,
With a wood storage box Hasegawa or Kano, others were “outsider” artists, self-taught with
14 x 25 1/4in (3.5 x 64cm) a vigorous figural style and somewhat naive approach to classical
themes. Working for newly rich merchants and craftsmen, their novel
rendition of everyday scenes made an important contribution to the
$1,000 - 1,500 development of fuzokuga (genre painting) and the ukiyo-e tradition.
1081
ANONYMOUS MACHI-ESHI
Figures in a Spring Landscape
Edo period (1615-1868), 19th century
Six-panel folding screen, ink, colors and gold on paper, with moriage
accents, depicting a group of six colorfully dressed male and female
revelers around an outsize flowering cherry tree against a background
of hills and other flowering plants; unsigned
41 1/2 x 109 1/2in (105.5 x 278.4cm)
$4,000 - 6,000

38 | BONHAMS