Page 86 - 2021 March 16th Japanese and Korean Art, Christie's New York City

62 SERIZAWA KEISUKE (1895-1984)

Iroha uta (Hiragana Syllabary Poem)

Signed Keisukeand kaihan, and titled kata-e
zome iroha marumon on reverse
Six stencil-dyed (katazome) silk cloths
mounted as a six-panel screen
60√ x 14æ in. (154.6 x 37.5 cm.) each
With wood box

$40,000-60,000

The famed textile artist of Mingei (Japanese Folk Crafts)
movement, Serizawa Keisuke was designated as a
Living National Treasure in 1956.
He was recognized as a masterful textile designer using
a stencil-dyeing techniques also known as bingata
which originated in Okiniwa Prefecture. Characterized
by bright yet warm colors of vegetable dyes and bold
designs, his powerful work is widely appreciated for
being ground breaking as an art form using traditional
textile techniques.
The poem of Iroha with Japanese kana characters was a
favored design and he often used vibrantly colored Iroha
uta characters on his works.