Lot 6: Shimomura Kanzan (1873-1930) Taisho Period, early 20th century

Taisho Period, early 20th century
A pair of six-fold screens, painted in ink, gofun and colour on gold-leaf paper ground, one screen decorated with a female crane and two young wandering beneath the over-arching branches of a pine tree, the adult preening its plumage; the other screen with its mate and one offspring beside a young pine tree, both screens signed Kanzan with seal Kanzan. Each screen 174cm × 346cm (68½in × 136¼in). (4).

?????? ???? ???? ?????? ????(20????)

The long-necked crane is said to live a thousand years, sharing the world of Immortals in Daoist lore. Because cranes are monogamous, they are also a symbol of happy marriage and one of the most enduring popular motifs in Japanese art. Represented here are the manazuru cranes, a species with pinkish legs, grey and white striped neck, and a red face patch.

Although the pairing of cranes with pine is a common subject matter in the Kano repertoire the depiction of manazuru cranes is not a familiar motif. An eclectic and creative painter, Kanzan has placed the subject matter right at the forefront of the screens in a determinedly decorative style, evocative of the Rimpa painters. Whilst rendering the subject with competent brushstrokes combined with a dash of Western realism, he has also incorporated a modern touch to the composition by deliberately truncating the legs of the cranes and sections of the pine tree along the lower edges of the screen. These are all elements which displays the artist's ability to both re-interpret and evolve a distinctive style for classical and traditional subjects to dazzling effect.

The style of the signature and seal dates these screens to around the same time as another one of his outstanding works, 'Yoroboshi' 1915, executed after the death of Okakura Tenshin in 1913, when he was playing a leading role in reorganizing the Nihon Bijutsu-in - the most fruitful period of his career.

Born in Wakayama prefecture to a family of Noh artists and recognised as one of the three most important painters of the Nihon Bijutsu-in or Japan Art Institute, Shimomura Kanzan's work helped to reinvigorate the classical Yamato-e tradition. Kanzan began studying painting in 1882 at the age of nine under Kanö Högai. Founded in 1889, he was one of the first students to enter the Tokyo School of Fine Art. One of his classmates was Yokoyama Taikan, with whom he was to have a lifelong friendship and rivalry. At the university, Kanzan chose to study Yamato-e painting under Kose Shöseki and in combination with Kanö style painting it came to form the basis of his art from that point onwards. After graduation in 1892, he was appointed assistant professor at the school. In this period his work began to win high praise at public exhibitions, with one painting being sent to the 1900 Paris Exposition. In 1903 he travelled to Europe to study Western art for several years with the aid and encouragement of the Ministry of Education. With its inception in 1907, he began exhibiting at the government-sponsored Bunten. After 1914, Kanzan joined with Taikan in resurrecting the Japan Art Institute, exhibiting frequently at the Institute's Inten venue. In 1917, he was appointed a Teishitsu Gigei-in or Imperial Court Artist.

Other works by Shimomura Kanzan are held in the Tokyo National Museum, Yamatane Bijutsukan, the Museum of Modern Art, Shiga prefecture and in the collection of the Imperial Household Agency.

These screens are accompanied with two certificates of authentication by Shimomura Kanzan Izoku-kai (Shimomura Kanzan Survivors' Association) and Nakamura Kiyoshi (Hiromitsu, died 1989) who was the leading authority on Kanzan.

Literature: Nagai Shinichi, Shimomura Kanzan no shogai to geijutsu (Shimomura Kanzan, his life and his art), in Gendai Nihon no Bijutsu (Modern Japanese Art), vol.2, edited by Goto Shigeki, Shueisha, Tokyo 1978.

The National Museum of Modern Art, Rimpa, Exhibition Catalogue, Tokyo 2004.

The National Museum of Modern Art, Yonin no Sakka (Exhibition of Four Artists), Tokyo 1955.

Tsuji Tuneo et al., Nihon byobue shusei, Kodansha, Tokyo 1978.

Yamatane Museum of Art, Shimomura Kanzan, sono hito to geijutsu, Exhibition Catalogue, Tokyo 1980.