Lot 169: Kawabata Gyokusho (1842-1913) Meiji Period

Meiji Period
A pair of six-fold screens, both painted in ink, gold and colour on silk, one screen decorated with a tsugumi hovering above the yatsuhashi (eight-plank bridge) over an iris pond, alluding to Chapter 9 from the Ise Monogatari, the other depicting shijyukara flying towards clumps of azami (thistle) and kanzo (orange daylily) growing besides a small wooden drum bridge, a willow tree in the background, alluding to Chapter 21 from the Ise Monogatari, both screens signed Gyokusho with seal. 171cm x 374cm (67 3/8in x 147¼in). (2).

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Born in Kyoto to a family of lacquer artists, Kawabata Gyokusho first studied the Maruyama style with Nakajima Raisho. In 1866, he went to Tokyo to learn Western painting under Charles Wirgman but soon returned to Japanese-style painting and became a leading figure in Tokyo Art circles. In 1890 he was appointed a professor at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts' painting division and there, he espoused the Shijo School of painting.