Lot 310: Yokoyama Taikan (1868-1958) Sacred Mountain

Sacred Mountain
Hanging scroll, ink and gold on silk; depicting the conical snow-covered peak of Mt. Fuji, rising above dark clouds and mist against a shimmering golden sky; signed Taikan with seal Shokodo; together with a double tomobako, the hakogaki reading Showa rokunen jogatsu kinen ko/kotosara ni Okakura Tenshin sensei dozo shunko Abe Inzai kun no tame ([Painted in] December 1931, to commemorate the completion of the bronze sculpture of the late Okakura Tenshin, for Mr. Abe Inzai), signed Taikan with seal Shokodo.
15 3/4 x 19 3/4in (40 x 50.2cm)

Sacred Mountain was passed down to the present owner by his grandfather, Abe Eizo (1877-1954). Eizo, a successful Showa-era bronze caster, is referred to in the hakogaki by his sobriquet, [Abe] Inzai. The hakogaki suggests that Taikan dedicated the painting to Inzai in appreciation for his work on a commemorative sculpture of Okakura Tenshin (Kakuzo, 1862-1913). Completed in 1931 to mark the twentieth anniversary of Tenshin's death (and seventieth anniversary of his birth), the sculpture was made for installation at the Tokyo Bijutsu Gakko (Tokyo Fine Arts School, predecessor of the Tokyo University of Fine Arts), of which Tenshin was co-founder.

Yokoyama Taikan's connection to the sculpture project must have derived from his admiration for his former mentor, Tenshin. Although the then director of the school, Masaki Naohiko, was nominally in charge of the project to create a commemorative bronze portrait, Taikan was apparently closely involved as well, recommending the artist, Hiragushi Denchu (1872-1979?), and giving detailed instructions as to the statue's pose (Morita Yoshiyuki, ed., Okakura Tenshin to Izura, 1998).

The hakogaki thus documents an interesting facet of the artist's work: the use of paintings as gifts in appreciation for work on collaborative projects, marking the link between places, events, and individuals important in the artist's career.