Page 104 - japanese and korean art Utterberg Collection Christie's March 22 2022

32
SUZUKI KIITSU (1796-1858)
Persimmon and moon
Signed Seisei Kiitsu and sealed Teihakushi
Hanging scroll; ink, color and gold on silk
34Ω x 13¬ in. (87.6 x 34.6 cm.)
$4,000-6,000

The love of nature runs through all of Japanese art and literature,
and for the painter and poet it is the passing of the seasons that
evokes the strongest emotions. When the witty tenth-century
court lady Sei Shonagon wrote her Pillow Book, a wonderful
compilation of anecdotes and observations, she listed the following
under the heading "Things That Do Not Linger for a Moment":
A boat with hoisted sails.

People's age.
The Four Seasons.
The seasons are by no means of equal interest, however. Summer
in Japan is uncomfortably hot and muggy, and winter is dreary and
cold. Spring, represented here by a camellia and fern shoots, and
autumn are traditionally the most meaningful.
Kiitsu is a master of puddled ink, or tarashikomi, which he uses to
create a sensuous texture in the leaves and tree trunk.
1. The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon, trans. and ed. Ivan Morris
(London: Oxford University Press, 1967), p. 210.

Sakai Hoitsu (1761–1828). Persimmon Tree. Japan. Edo
period, Circa 1810. The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, Rogers Fund, 1957, accession number 57.156.3