Item #38954 [Kakemono 掛け物 - Hanging Scroll] [Hanging Scroll of Mt. Fuji]. artist Kawabata Gyokushō 川端玉章.

[Kakemono 掛け物 - Hanging Scroll] [Hanging Scroll of Mt. Fuji]

18. Item #38954

[Kakemono 掛け物 - Hanging Scroll]

[Hanging Scroll of Mt. Fuji]

Kawabata Gyokushō 川端玉章, artist

The scroll appears to have the original mid to late Meiji silk mounting with wooden/ bamboo roller handles. The image size, on silk, is 101.5 x 40cm. The scroll begins with 37 x 53.5cm of tan silk, followed by 12 x 53.5cm of green-gold patterned silk, which also forms a border around the image. There is a 3 x 40cm gold pattern strip of silk fabric at the top and a 2.2 x 40cm strip at the bottom of the image.

An abbreviated and somewhat abstract Fuji looms in the distance over a haboku style foreground of gnarled trees on a crag. Gyokushō 川端 玉章(1842-1913) was an important figure in Tokyo art circles at the turn of the century. He had studied Western painting in his youth under Charles Wirgman (1832-91), but returned to tradition and was considered to be, “the last great representative of the Shijō school…" (see Laurance P. Roberts, “A Dictionary of Japanese Artists” p.71). He was talented in more than the Shijō style, however, as this painting illustrates. Haboku Sansui 破墨山水, or “splashed ink landscape,” is a most difficult technique, which in Japan goes back to Sesshū Tōyō 雪舟等楊 (1420/26 -1506). It is often attempted, but hardly ever successfully. This painting is, in our opinion, successful. With uniform toning of the silk and a water spot, else very good. A lovely work.

Price: $2,850.00