Lot 37: Nukina Kaioku (1778-1863)

Nukina Kaioku (1778-1863) Quietly Reading at Night, circa 1848 Signed Kaioku sei, sealed Shusei, Nukina Shigeru in and Kummo Hanging scroll; ink on silk 48 3/8 x 21 1/8in. (123 x 53.5cm.)

123 x 53.5cm.

circa 1848

John M. Rosenfield with Fumiko E. Cranston, Extraordinary Persons : Works by Eccentric, Nonconformist Japanese Artists of the Early Modern Era (1580-1868) in the Collection of Kimiko and John Powers, Vol. 2 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Art Museums, 1999), pp. 215-16, no. 177.

The poem has been translated: Wu tree, leafless, outside my quiet window – By a dim lamp I prefer reading a text, Sharing its thoughts, relaxed as the moon moves, Or else toiling, digging through the classics. As my spirit fills the vital universe, My thoughts gather in the depths of night. The sounds of the stream rushing over rocks and sand Occasionally reach my hut. Quietly Reading at Night. Translation by Fumiko E. Cranston from Extraordinary Persons, Vol. 2 (1999), p. 215. The wu tree, aogiri in Japanese, is a variety of paulownia traditionally regarded as a sacred tree on which auspicious "phoenix" birds perch.