Lot 153: 153Shimomura Kanzan (1873-1930) Meiji Period

Meiji Period
Kakejiku, in ink and slight colour on silk, depicting Jurojin standing beneath a bamboo tree, holding a gnarled cane and accompanied by a deer, signed Kanzan with seal, with double tomobako, titled by the artist; the inside of the inner lid signed by the artist Kanzan ki (written by Kanzan) with seal Kanzan, with authentification by Nakajima Kiyoshi. 143.5cm x 56cm (56.5in x 22in). (4).

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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 in the Tokyo National Museum, Yamatane Bijutsukan, the Museum of Modern Art, Shiga prefecture and in the collection of the Imperial Household Agency.

Little is known about Nakajima Kiyoshi(1899-1989) who authenticated this painting, He was from Kyoto and was a member of Nihon bijyutsu-in (Japan Art Academy) at the same time as Shimomura Kanzan and Yokoyama Taikan.

Another painting or screen depicting the same subject Jurojin is recorded as being in the collection of Kodansha Noma Kinenkan (Kodansha Noma Memorial Museum) in Tokyo.