Page 86 - japanese and korean art Utterberg Collection Christie's March 22 2022

Rosetsu, along with Soga Shohaku and Ito Jakuchu, was at the
cutting edge of his times. The three were known as the "Three
Eccentrics,” which meant painting in a highly individualistic
manner, but was also related to character. Rosetsu, for example, was
known as something of an argumentative hothead and his behavior
and excessive drinking are part of the background that adds to the
enjoyment of his pictures.
The son of a low-ranking samurai, he decided early on to study
with Maruyama Okyo in Kyoto, but soon opened his own studio,
discarded his teacher’s careful realism, and went on to become
a pioneer of modernist expressionism. He died on an outing to
Osaka at the age of only forty-six—some say an envious rival put
poison in his boxed lunch. Others tell of him slitting his throat
due to financial troubles. What is certain is that he was unusually
confident and relished novelty, with a streak of vulgarity. He was
quick-witted, versatile and had exceptional technical skill.
Rosetsu creates mischievous, comical birds and beasts with
attitude and character. They seem to wink at us. The subject of
monkey and moon is a venerable Zen theme reaching back to the
Muromachi period: the unenlightened monkey often reaches out
for the moon, symbol of enlightenment. However, this monkey
may have other things on its mind. The pale-gray ink ground
painted around areas of white paper such as the moon and the
monkey is the result of mixing animal glue with the ink.

The wet ink wash defining the flattened rock with crushing wave
is very similar to the hills in Rosetsu’s Red Cliff screens in the Nezu
Museum, Tokyo. The screens offered here date from the late 1790s.
By around 1798, the artist abbreviates, and almost eliminates, the
third stroke in the grass radical that sits on top of “Ro” (蘆) in his
signature.