Lot 30: Ike no Taiga (1723-1776)

Ike no Taiga (1723-1776) Flowers Bloom, circa 1760 Signed Kyuka sansho, sealed Taiga, Ike arina in and Sangaku doja Hanging scroll; ink on paper 52 7/8 x 9 7/8in. (134.2 x 25.1cm.)

134.2 x 25.1cm.

circa 1760

"Unrivalled Splendor: The Kimiko and John Powers Collection of Japanese Art," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Jun 10 - Sep 23, 2012

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. 62-63, no. 119. Christine Starkman, introduction, and entries by John M. Rosenfield, Unrivalled Splendor: The Kimiko and John Powers Collection of Japanese Art (Houston, The Museum of Fine Arts 2012), p. 194, pl. 67

Ike no Taiga is a well-known literati artist who excelled at calligraphy and painting. The inscription reads: Hana bankoku no haru ni hiraku (Flowers bloom in springtime thoughout the world). Another example by Taiga with the same verse is in the Tokyo National Museum (B-3405).